The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. A Virtual Book Study

Trauma is a fact of life. This book will give you a deep understanding of the effects of trauma so that you are better informed to help your students. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. Dr. van der Kolk explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.

Virtual Book Study – Shared Inquiry, Shared Responsibility

The WEA Academy virtual book studies are a fully collaborative learning experiences where every member plays an equal and active role in shaping our conversations. There is no designated leader guiding the discussion — instead, we each come to the table as both learner and facilitator, ready to contribute our perspectives, questions, and insights.

To make our time together rich and meaningful, all members are expected to arrive at each session having completed the assigned reading and prepared with the following:

• A question worth sitting with — something the text raised for you that you genuinely want to explore with the group
• A passage that struck you — a line, idea, or moment you'd like to bring forward for collective reflection
• A connection or challenge — how the reading connects to your own experience, practice, or thinking, or where you found yourself pushing back
• An open mind — a willingness to have your thinking shifted by what others bring

Our sessions thrive only when everyone shows up prepared and engaged. Silence is welcome for reflection, but passive attendance is not — this is a space built on the expectation that all voices matter and all voices will be heard.

Come ready to listen deeply, speak honestly, and think together.