The Body Keeps the Score
Bessel van der Kolk (2014)
The questions it was named for
Each of these is a question a reader might ask an AI assistant, written from the subject of the book without reference to its title. The books listed underneath are the ones named in the same answer.
what are the best books to understand how trauma affects the body and mind?
Named at position 1
- 1. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 2. Trauma and Recovery - Judith Herman
- 3. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma - Peter A. Levine
- 4. What Happened to You? - Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
- 5. When the Body Says No - Gabor Maté
i had a rough childhood and my therapist mentioned my body might be holding onto it, what should i read?
Named at position 1
- 1. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 2. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving - Pete Walker
- 3. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma - Peter A. Levine
- 4. What Happened to You? - Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
- 5. The Deepest Well - Nadine Burke Harris
book recommendations for someone whose partner is a trauma survivor and wants to understand them better
Named at position 1
- 1. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 2. Loving Someone with PTSD - Aphrodite Matsakis
- 3. Hold Me Tight - Sue Johnson
- 4. Wired for Love - Stan Tatkin
- 5. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving - Pete Walker
i keep having the same panic reactions to small things and i don't know why, what book explains this?
Named at position 1
- 1. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 2. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma - Peter A. Levine
- 3. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving - Pete Walker
- 4. Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory - Deb Dana
- 5. DARE: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks - Barry McDonagh
looking for a well-researched book on PTSD that isn't just self-help fluff
Named at position 2
- 1. Trauma and Recovery - Judith Herman
- 2. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 3. The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - David J. Morris
- 4. Achilles in Vietnam - Jonathan Shay
- 5. Handbook of PTSD: Science and Practice - Matthew J. Friedman, Terence M. Keane and Patricia A. Resick
what should i read if i want to understand why talk therapy hasn't worked for me?
Named at position 1
- 1. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 2. In an Unspoken Voice - Peter A. Levine
- 3. The Body Remembers - Babette Rothschild
- 4. No Bad Parts - Richard C. Schwartz
- 5. Getting Past Your Past - Francine Shapiro
i'm a new counsellor and want to get properly grounded in trauma-informed practice, which books are essential?
Named at position 2
- 1. Trauma and Recovery - Judith Herman
- 2. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 3. Trauma and the Body - Pat Ogden, Kekuni Minton and Clare Pain
- 4. Principles of Trauma Therapy - John N. Briere and Catherine Scott
- 5. Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Adults - Christine A. Courtois and Julian D. Ford
are there any books that explain how people actually recover from trauma, not just what's wrong with them?
Named at position 2
- 1. Trauma and Recovery - Judith Herman
- 2. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
- 3. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving - Pete Walker
- 4. No Bad Parts - Richard C. Schwartz
- 5. What Happened to You? - Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
What this measures
This is one reading, taken on 2026-07-30, of whether an AI assistant names this book when asked about its subject. It is not a judgement of the book. It measures how present the book is in what the assistant has read.
Across all 100 books we tested, the average was 51% and 23 were never named at all. See the full index.