A pioneering researcher and one of the world’s foremost experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for healing
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children.
Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy—and a way to reclaim lives.
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The study and treatment of psychological trauma underwent a profound transformation through research integrating neuroscience, attachment theory, and somatic therapies, bringing body-centered recovery to the forefront of psychiatric medicine. Psychiatrist and author Bessel van der Kolk established himself as a leading investigator in trauma studies, examining how overwhelming stress alters brain function, memory processing, and physiological regulation.
Born in the Netherlands on July 8, 1943, van der Kolk later established his clinical practice and academic career in Boston, Massachusetts. Since the 1970s, his research has focused on post-traumatic stress and developmental trauma. In 1984, he set up one of the first clinical research centers in the United States dedicated to the study and treatment of traumatic stress in civilian populations. Over his career, he conducted pioneering studies on the effects of SSRIs on PTSD, led early neuroimaging research investigating how trauma alters brain processes, and examined the connections between borderline personality disorder, trauma, and self-injury.
Van der Kolk has served as professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, co-director of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and president of the Trauma Research Foundation in Brookline, Massachusetts. He has also served as principal investigator for clinical trial research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Van der Kolk's writing style combines clinical neuroscience, attachment theory, and detailed case histories to make complex psychiatric concepts accessible to clinicians and general readers alike. A core theme across his work is that traumatic experiences are stored not simply as verbal narratives, but as physiological, visceral responses in the body and nervous system. He demonstrates that traumatic memory differs fundamentally from ordinary conscious memory, manifesting through physical distress, hyperarousal, and emotional numbing.
His work emphasizes neuroplasticity and the capacity of the brain and body to heal from chronic stress. Moving beyond traditional talk therapy alone, van der Kolk advocates for integrative treatments such as somatic experiencing, yoga, neurofeedback, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and theater, which help individuals regain sensory awareness, emotional regulation, and agency.
