Something to readWorkload & wellbeing
The Body Keeps the Score
A book about brain, mind and body in the healing of trauma: how overwhelming experience can keep the body on alert, and the treatments that aim to help
Why it’s worth your time
Some reactions are bigger than the moment that set them off, and that usually isn't a character flaw. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist who has spent decades researching and treating trauma, explains how overwhelming experiences can leave the body on alert long after the danger is gone, and surveys treatments well beyond talk therapy. It's a heavy book, and a useful one for seeing yourself or a colleague with more patience.
How stress and trauma show up in the body
The book · About 11 hours of reading · Buy or borrow
How to get it
We don’t earn anything from these links.
- Start with Part Two of the book.
It covers what happens in the brain and body under threat and why the alarm can keep sounding afterward, the idea the rest of the book builds on. The final part tours the treatments. Parts of the book describe abuse, war and neglect in detail, so go at your own pace and skip what you need to.
- Notice one reaction that's bigger than the moment.
This week, when something lands harder than it should, a flash of anger at an email or dread before a meeting, notice it and step away for a few minutes before you reply. Walk, breathe slowly, then decide. You don't need to know where it comes from to give it some room.
Good moments for this: after a reaction that surprised youwhen a colleague's response seems out of proportiona part at a time, when you have the energy
Keep going with Truest
Small actions add up. Truest helps you find the next thing worth doing, make the space to do it, and keep a record of your progress. It’s a private place to work on your career, and it’s yours, not your employer’s.
- It actually happensWe’ll put it on your calendar and remind you before it starts.
- You know what’s nextTruest suggests the next small thing to try, based on what you’re working on.
- It’s yours to keepEach thing you do is saved to your private record, there when your next review or job search comes around.
Anything else we can help you with this week?
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Ordinary pressure at work is a different thing, and this book is about something heavier. It helps most as a way to understand why some reactions run deeper than the situation, not as a label for every bad day.
What might make this harder
Put it down for a while and consider talking with a therapist or counselor. If your workplace has an employee assistance program, it may offer a few free, confidential sessions.
Questions people ask
What is The Body Keeps the Score about?
How traumatic experiences can change the brain and body so that a person stays on alert long after the danger has passed, and the treatments van der Kolk has seen help, including EMDR, yoga, neurofeedback and theater.
Is The Body Keeps the Score scientifically accurate?
It's contested. The book is widely read and influential, but the PTSD researcher Michael Scheeringa, in a 2025 review in BJPsych Bulletin, argues that many of its brain and treatment claims go beyond the evidence, and that the strongest research support belongs to structured, trauma-focused talking therapies.
Should I read The Body Keeps the Score if I haven't been through trauma?
You don't need a trauma history to find it useful for understanding yourself or people around you. It's worth knowing that it includes detailed accounts of abuse and war, and that reading it in parts is fine.
Can The Body Keeps the Score replace therapy?
No. It describes treatments rather than walking you through one. If you're struggling, a professional is the right next step.
What it says, and how it holds up
Some reactions arrive before any thought does: the tight chest before a review, the flare of anger at a curt message. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist and trauma researcher, built a career around people whose alarm never switched off, and the book opens with what he learned from Vietnam veterans. His central idea is that overwhelming experience can leave the body's alarm system stuck on, long after the danger has passed. That makes it a book about the body as much as the mind.
From there it moves through brain research, childhood attachment and traumatic memory, and ends with a long tour of treatments, from EMDR and yoga to neurofeedback and theater. It's not a workplace book. What travels to work is the idea that a reaction out of proportion to the moment usually has a history, and that calm tends to come back through the body and through feeling safe with other people, not only through reasoning.
It has also drawn serious criticism. In a 2025 review in BJPsych Bulletin, Michael Scheeringa, a PTSD researcher at Tulane, checked 122 of its claims and argued that much of the cited evidence was incomplete or selectively presented, and that structured, trauma-focused talking therapies have stronger support than the body-based ones the book favors. It's one influential clinician's account, and parts of its evidence are disputed. For a lighter way in, van der Kolk's interview with Krista Tippett on the On Being podcast is free.
This isn't the book for ordinary overload. A punishing workload, a difficult manager or a run of long weeks call for practical changes and a conversation, and a trauma book can make everyday stress feel more alarming than it is. And if you recognize yourself in it in a way that frightens you, that's a sign to talk to a professional, not to keep reading alone.
You might like
More in Workload & wellbeing
See allRead this alongside your role page
Tell Truest what you’re dealing with
We read every one, and we write guides for the things that come up most. Leave your email if you’d like to hear when we do.
Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.