Dr. Van Der Kolk is a research psychiatrist who has spent his long career studying trauma. He started working with Vietnam veterans with PTSD, and then expanded his focus to include children who grew up in abusive homes and other sources of trauma. He spends the first half of the book talking about different kinds of trauma and how they impact both behavior and physiology. In the second half of the book he discusses some non-mainstream treatments and gives case studies to show in what kind of cases they can be helpful.
I read this book because of friend of mine who has trained as a trauma councilor recommended it to me. It was a little bit difficult to read because the case studies he recounts are so horrendous. But I am super glad I read the book. It is very accessible and I stayed engaged even though the audiobook takes 16 hours to get through (on regular speed. I admit that about half way through I increased the playback spead to 1.25). I felt like the first half made me much more aware of the impact of trauma on people. I had never understood before how people could commit violent crime of submit to repeated abuse but he explains how trauma relates to those behaviors. The second half that talked about different treatments was also interesting. I am not as convinced about the efficacy of all the things he talked about as he is, but it did open my eyes to how some of these less mainstream methods of treatment might be useful.
With a book like this, you need to be careful to check the author to see what their credentials are. Dr. Van Der Kolk's career has not been without controversy, but he does seem to be what he claims to be. I kind of think that everyone who has someone in their life (including themself) who has suffered from trauma should consider reading this book. (2014, 464 p)
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