Book · 2014
The Body Keeps the Score
by Bessel van der Kolk
Bessel van der Kolk spent his career arguing trauma changes the nervous system, and r/CPTSD made the book its shared vocabulary for what happened to them.
What does Reddit think of The Body Keeps the Score?
Almost all of this happens in one place: r/CPTSD accounts for the overwhelming majority of the 696 recognized references, more support-group citation than book club. The top comment there (↑198) treats the book as the actual framework used in therapy, building it into a stack with Janina Fisher's Healing the Fragmented Selves, read as taking van der Kolk's ideas further. Another (↑137) uses it to relitigate the DSM committee's refusal to add C-PTSD, more grievance than review. r/therapists is cooler: its top comment (↑132) files the book under a broader shift toward 'hippy dippy' modalities like IFS and somatic work, not exactly a compliment. And r/getdisciplined's highest-upvoted mention (↑344) is a correction, not praise: the book assumes you can choose how you think, which for one reader 'royally screwed' things up for years. Consensus on the diagnosis. Not on the treatment.
Evidence, not a rating
Recommendation receipt
A compact, source-linked answer derived from the same Reddit sample and editorial synthesis as this page.
Editorial summary
Almost all of this happens in one place: r/CPTSD accounts for the overwhelming majority of the 696 recognized references, more support-group citation than book club. The top comment there (↑198) treats the book as the actual framework used in therapy, building it into a stack with Janina Fisher's Healing the Fragmented Selves, read as taking van der Kolk's ideas further.
Read if
Read this if you're already in r/CPTSD's orbit and want the vocabulary the subreddit keeps reaching for, not a foreign language you have to learn from scratch. Therapists browsing r/therapists get a cooler reception: the ↑132 comment treats the book as one entry in a wider swing toward somatic and IFS work, useful context rather than a standalone bible.
Skip or borrow first if
r/getdisciplined's highest-upvoted comment (↑344) pushes back hard: the premise that you can just choose your thoughts 'royally screwed' one reader for years.
Strongest published evidence
“Solid advice. One caveat that royally screwed me over for years with this is the assumption that an individual has control over their mind. That is to say that they have the capacity to choose how they think. For myself in the past, and for some others, this may not be the case. This comment is ane…”r/getdisciplined source · score 344 ↗
Dissent & strongest caveat
r/getdisciplined's highest-upvoted comment (↑344) pushes back hard: the premise that you can just choose your thoughts 'royally screwed' one reader for years.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · How trauma reshapes the nervous system
- · C-PTSD's fight for DSM recognition
- · Somatic and IFS-adjacent modalities as companion frameworks
- · The limits of the 'you can choose how you think' premise
Common praise
- + r/CPTSD's top comment (↑198) says the book is the actual framework they use with their therapist, not just something they read.
- + One reader (↑178) says it 'goes deep with the brain science' in a way Pete Walker's Complex PTSD book doesn't.
- + r/selfimprovement's top comment (↑222) tells the reader straight up to 'consider reading' it, no hedging.
Common criticism
- − r/getdisciplined's highest-upvoted comment (↑344) pushes back hard: the premise that you can just choose your thoughts 'royally screwed' one reader for years.
- − r/therapists' top comment (↑132) lumps it in with psychedelics and IFS as part of a 'hippy dippy' trend, faint praise at best.
- − One CPTSD thread (↑137) uses the book mainly to relitigate a DSM committee decision, which reads as an argument about bureaucracy, not a case for reading it.
Who it's for
Read this if you're already in r/CPTSD's orbit and want the vocabulary the subreddit keeps reaching for, not a foreign language you have to learn from scratch. Therapists browsing r/therapists get a cooler reception: the ↑132 comment treats the book as one entry in a wider swing toward somatic and IFS work, useful context rather than a standalone bible. If the idea that trauma can limit someone's control over their own thinking bothers you, the ↑344 comment says that exact friction cost one reader years, worth knowing before you start. Academics and attachment-theory researchers show up here too, in smaller numbers, mostly citing it rather than debating it.
Mentions over time
Which Reddit comments matter for The Body Keeps the Score?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Solid advice. One caveat that royally screwed me over for years with this is the assumption that an individual has control over their mind. That is to say that they have the capacity to choose how they think. For myself in the past, and for some others, this may not be the case. This comment is ane…
“Please consider reading The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk. This book will help you to understand what has happened to, how it is affecting you now, and what some of your options are for healing.
“Take some time. You need it. The degree can be finished anytime, but this crucial time of healing cannot be repeated. A lot of studies show that how you heal in the aftermath of such a horrific event like this will stay with you for the rest of your life. Take the time you need, and when you think i…
“Yes! This is actually the framework I use with my therapist to heal. Based on this book: Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation by Janina Fisher She worked with Bessel van der kolk who wrote the body keeps the score. She takes his work further to su…
“yes, 100%! of course my memory is crap so I cant rattle off any science but Pete Walker talks about effects on memory in his book Complex PTSD. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel ven der Kolk goes deep with the brain science. I'm currently reading Janina Fisher's book Healing the Fragmented Selves …
“You're definitely not alone. Bessel van der Kolk talks about this in the body keeps the score - not friends specifically, but that trauma can often disconnect and isolate you from the other people around you. The only friends I have are the ones I've kept in touch with since we were kids, so we hav…
“Bessel van der Kolk talks about this extensively in his book, “The body keeps the score”. He personally worked on getting C-PTSD into the DSM decades ago. It was voted overwhelmingly by the subcommittee, but it was never included when DSM4 was released. The higher powers of the committee have delibe…
“The body keeps the score by Bessel Van Dee Kolk is the best book on trauma and trauma informed therapy that I’ve ever read. Absolutely incredible.
“i’m really sorry, i’m a woman, but i would respectfully like to introduce you to this book that relates a lot to the feelings youre having called *“The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma”* by Bessel van der Kolk. i’m not sure if we can post links here so i’ll just…
“I highly recommend the book The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk. It’s 50 years worth of studies and data about how our trauma, abuse, and/or neglect is stored in our bodies and the ways it shows up in our health, habits, and all of our relationships in life. It also offers incredible tip…
“The Body keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Read the first chapter and if it's got you s******* bricks because it describes you so well, then the rest of the book will tell you how to fix a majority of your problems. It also describes really well what happens to your brain when you're experien…
“That’s really powerful that you’re talking about this. A good book is The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Even if you don’t remember, your body does. Kids often don’t hold brain memories, but it shows up in reactions, dissociation, panic, shame, or how you feel about sex. I’ve done EMD…
“Very good book. Our bodies normal reactions to abnormal experiences. Copying here this section that resonated with me “SPEECHLESS HORROR Our most surprising finding was a white spot in the left frontal lobe of the cortex, in a region called Broca’s area. In this case the change in color meant that …
“Bessel didn't write The Body Keeps The Score to help people out directly, it's not a how-to book at all. But it changes the paradigm of current mental health which is primarily CBT and talk therapy. It's one of the first books that talks comprehensively about trauma, how it is stored in the body and…
“Sooo, there is an explanation for this, from "Body Keeps the Score" by van der Kolk. I recently made note of this because it resonated so strongly with me, set the book aside for a few days to absorb. This book is taking eons to complete because I have to digest bits before I can continue and that t…
Convinced? Pick up The Body Keeps the Score
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with The Body Keeps the Score — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring The Body Keeps the Score
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
The Body Keeps the Score — frequently asked
Is The Body Keeps the Score actually recommended, or just repeated?+
Recommended, per the displayed evidence. r/selfimprovement's top comment (↑222) is a direct 'please consider reading' recommendation, and r/CPTSD's top comment (↑198) says it's the literal framework used in therapy. That's a stronger signal than the mention count alone, since most of the 696 references come from one subreddit where citing it is close to a habit.
Does r/CPTSD treat The Body Keeps the Score as required reading?+
Functionally, yes, per the top comments. One (↑198) uses it as the basis for actual therapy work; another (↑170) leans on its disconnection-from-others framing to explain isolation. But 'required' overstates it: none of the displayed r/CPTSD excerpts argue against the book, they build on it rather than debate it.
What's the strongest criticism of The Body Keeps the Score on Reddit?+
That its core assumption doesn't hold for everyone. r/getdisciplined's top comment (↑344) says the book assumes 'an individual has control over their mind,' and that this assumption 'royally screwed me over for years' for at least one reader. It's a caveat about the premise, not a rejection of the book.
Is The Body Keeps the Score written for therapists or for patients?+
Patients, mostly, based on where it's actually discussed. r/CPTSD's mention count dwarfs r/therapists', and the therapist-side top comment (↑132) treats it as one data point in a broader clinical trend rather than a core text. The heaviest engagement comes from people using it on themselves, not clinicians assigning it.