Study Guide: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality instructional study guides for challenging works of literature. This audio study guide for The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as childhood trauma as a lifelong problem, and contemporary medicine’s dismissal of trauma. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

Psychiatrist van der Kolk devoted his career to understanding what causes trauma, how trauma affects the brain and body, and how to treat a condition that rewrites a person’s ability to interface with themselves and the world around them. Through a mix of anecdotes about patients, scholarly citations, and general information, this New York Times best seller builds a strong case supporting van der Kolk’s assertion that the brain and body retain a “memory” of traumatic experiences even if someone is not conscious of it.

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