The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is a fabulous up-to-date survey of what is currently known about psychological traumas and innovative, effective treatments for life-long sufferers of trauma. From war veterans to incest survivors to accident victims, Bessel van der Kolk in the JRI Trauma Research Center in Brookline, Mass. recounts painful case histories to illustrate creative approaches to trauma treatment and recovery, from neurofeedback to theater to EMDR, with often amazing results. Simple meditation can provide serious relief and often open doors to talk therapy that remained closed for many patients.

I have always held that about a third of humanity is seriously messed up inside, from unrecognized illness, child abuse, rape or simply absent parental figures. Given the huge numbers of trauma sufferers of so many kinds throughout the world, and the impact that even one damaged person can have on so many others, isn’t it time to learn more about trauma?

I found by the end of this book I was feeling quite a bit more charitable to strangers than heretofore.

Maybe I’m learning something about trauma.