I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a trauma specialist. My favorite resource for anyone with PTSD is the book, “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. It’s usually in the top 20 sellers on Amazon and is a really good, informative book for anyone interested in understanding traumatic stress and the impact it has on society.
The book focuses a lot on veterans and the fact that veterans and their families deal with the aftermath of combat/war. Dr. van der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma can reshape both body and brain, compromising one’s capacity for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He looks at innovative treatments from neurofeedback and meditation, to sports, yoga, and drama, all of which offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. The book helps to understand the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and heal, and offers new hope to reclaiming lives.
Many people go to therapy and receive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but don’t feel that they’ve dealt with and processed their trauma. This book helps to understand that trauma has nothing to do with cognition (thoughts), but it has to do with your body being reset to interpret the world as a dangerous place. It’s not something you can talk yourself out of.
Part 1 & 2 of the book provide a review of the neuropsychology of trauma’s impact on a person. Part 3 looks at childhood development, attachment and the “hidden development” of developmental trauma, which is the idea that there is a type of PTSD which is very different than the rest, sometimes called C-PTSD. The “C” means complex. These C-PTSD clients are treated as ordinary PTSD clients, but the two are nothing alike. Part 4 focuses on memory. Trauma memory is what causes the problem. Deal with that, and the symptoms vanish.
Part 5 is the book’s core content, “Paths to Recovery.” We cannot undo the trauma, but we can undo it’s effects on us and get our “self” back. Dr. van der Kolk reviews existing therapies. His approach is to repair by viewing the mind and body as a single coherent functional unit. He critiques current therapies, which is really good information. He discussed the importance of language- we construct our narratives mainly in words, and the words we choose are critical, but language is not enough. Our senses encompass a larger world and it’s center is our body, where all of our sensory receptors are located. And then he talks about my favorite and most effective trauma treatment- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing).
It is my professional opinion, that anyone with PTSD should try EMDR therapy. It’s not hard to find an EMDR therapist and I find the easiest way to search for one is www.psychologytoday.com. You can search by zip code for local resources. There are filters to search for your insurance, types of therapy provided, and types of concerns you are wanting help with. There are many options for virtual therapy if that is a better option for you. The book also has a resource section. Part 5 also focuses on self-empowerment, “victim no more!” Most trauma therapists have an invested interest in seeing their clients leave therapy ready to fully embrace their lives, and I do see that result when working with veterans through EMDR therapy. Dr. van der Kolk does talk a lot about his clients and their traumatic experiences in the book and it can be triggering, so it may be a good idea to be in therapy while reading the book, but it isn’t a necessity. I just like to let someone know to be aware of triggering information. There are many resources online to learn more about EMDR and trauma therapy.
Next post I will discuss EMDR therapy in depth and explain step by step what clients can expect. I’m also going to ask one of my clients if I can share their experience, so stay tuned!
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