The Body Keeps the Score
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health awareness is important, now more than ever, so I want to make sure to share valuable resources with you. It's easy to feel stuck when it comes to mental health, not knowing where to start, or who to turn to in times of crisis. We often feel like we're in it alone, not realizing how pervasive anxiety and depression are right. The root of most mental health issues is trauma.
Trauma is a part of life. Whether it's "big T" trauma (eg. abuse, combat, sexual assault, divorce, death of a loved one, life-threatening injuries, children of alcoholic parents) or "little t" trauma (eg. exclusion, bullying, loss of friendships, romantic break-ups, etc.) trauma imprints on our brain and can greatly shift our behavior, health, and emotions.
Trauma is important to understand because there is a significant correlation between trauma experiences and substance abuse and addiction. Without support during traumatic experiences, individuals are left to stuff their emotions or try to manage symptoms without support.
This leads me to one of my go-to resources on trauma. The Body Keeps the Score, by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma. Dr. van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with trauma survivors.
In The Body Keeps the Score, he shares how scientific advances have highlighted how trauma reshapes both body and brain, impacting our capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. In addition, he suggests beneficial treatments that create paths to recovery by tapping into our brain's neuroplasticity.
This may sound like a lot of scientific terms, but basically what this book talks about is how our experiences are held in our bodies and greatly impact our physical health. Chronic pain or illness can be a result of unresolved trauma trapped in our brain.
This of it this way - when we try to hold a beachball under the water, it can only stay down for so long. Eventually, the beachball will pop up no matter how hard you try to keep it down. Think of the beachball as trauma. When it’s not worked through in a healthy way, it can manifest in physical ways throughout our bodies. Literally reshaping our brains.
Inside this book, not only does Dr. van der Kolk give us a scientific understanding of HOW trauma affects our bodies, but he also explores innovative treatments, offers hope for those who feel stuck in the same patterns, and new ways to heal.
Being human means experiencing trauma great and small. We can’t escape it, but we can learn to work through it in a healthy way in order to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be.
As we head into summer, make sure this one is on your reading list!
Life is too short to stay stuck.
You are amazing! Start living like it!
Kim Anderson is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-MHSP) and a Certified Life Professional Coach (CPLC) who loves helping others live their lives with passion and purpose. She lives with her husband and two teenagers outside of Nashville, in Franklin, Tennessee, where she loves seasons, rolling hills, and the warmth of the South. Follow Kim at www.kimanderson.life, on Instagram @kim_anderson_life, and on Facebook@ KimAndersonLifeCoachingto learn more about what she offers.
