The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk: New York, NY: Viking, 2014, Hard Cover $27.95, Soft Cover $18.00

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Web End = Am J Dance Ther (2016) 38:151156

DOI 10.1007/s10465-016-9214-4

BOOK REVIEW

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

New York, NY: Viking, 2014, Hard Cover $27.95, Soft Cover $18.00

Amber E. L. Gray1

Published online: 2 May 2016 American Dance Therapy Association 2016

Abstract The Body Keeps the Score is Dr. Bessel van der Kolks most recent, and possibly most signicant, contribution to the eld of traumatic stress. This book covers history, theory, research, and very human clinical and therapist stories, with sensitivity, clarity, and ample scientic backing. This very readable and enjoyable book focuses on trauma and the body. The body as the site of all human experience and, in particular, trauma, is central to this book making makes a strong case for the use of body and creative arts-based therapies. While The Body Keeps the Score is written in a language that will be familiar to all dance/movement therapists, the book does not acknowledge the important role dance/movement therapy (DMT) has played since its origins in the 1940s, following World War II. The explanation and rationale that support other forms of somatic and arts-based therapies easily support DMTs place in the eld of trauma recovery and restoration.

Keywords Bessel van der Kolk Body Creative arts therapies

Dance/movement therapy Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Trauma Veterans

Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.s third book, The Body Keeps the Score, may be his most signicant contribution to date to the eld of trauma treatment. As the researcher/clinician who has perhaps done the most to bring trauma as a fundamental aspect of the human condition to the forefront of the clinical world, Dr. van der Kolk has given us a masterful integration of science, theory, and story

& Amber E. L. Gray [email protected]

1 Restorative Resources Training & Consulting, 118 Temblon Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA

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both client stories of suffering and healing, and his own experiences as a clinician...