All posts filed under: Complex Post Traumatic Stress

The Body Keeps the Score Review, Bessel Van Der Kolk

Mindsplain Book Review: “The Body Keeps the Score”

Published by Martyna Bobek

Book Title: The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Author: Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. Publisher: Penguin Books Year Published: 2015 Number of Pages: 464 Purchase: Amazon.com What is ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ About? The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain, and Body in the Transformation of Trauma transforms our understanding of traumatic stress. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a leading expert on trauma, applies modern scientific approaches to reveal just how trauma reshapes both the body and the brain. With over 30 years of research and working with survivors, Van der Kolk teaches us how our bodies confine us to the past despite any effort of the mind to leave it behind. While powerfully arguing that trauma is one of the world’s most urgent public health issues, he explores innovative treatments that offer new pathways to recovery by utilizing the brain’s natural ability to heal.  Key Takeaways from ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ Trauma is universal and occurs more frequently than we tend to think. One doesn’t have …

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Book on Childhood Trauma

Mindsplain Book Review: “The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog”

Published by Martyna Bobek

 What’s “The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” About?  The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is a series of stories from a child psychiatrist, Dr. Bruce Perry, who applies his brain development and neuroscience expertise to study how traumatic experiences shape children’s behavior. Each chapter utilizes vivid yet straightforward illustrations to describe his former patients who have endured violence, abuse, and neglect. Simultaneously, Dr. Perry engages his readers to join him on a journey in understanding exactly what happens to the brain if a child is exposed to extreme stress. Readers will find their hearts swelled with compassion, empathy, and ultimately, hope. Key Takeaways from The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog  The brain is capable of change despite severe trauma. In other words, healing is possible. Understanding this can provide even the smallest glimmer of hope throughout the darkest of times. The responses of traumatized children are frequently misunderstood. Dr. Perry shares stories in which family homes experience a similar theme-chaos and unpredictability. Given so, kids may respond with fear …

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panic attacks and existential anxieties

6 Existential Anxieties That Could Be the Cause of Your Panic Attacks

Published by Michael Kinsey, Ph.D.

Panic attacks are among the most common and most distressing symptoms I see as a therapist.  Not only do people encounter some of their most primitive existential fears, such as feeling like they are dying or going crazy, panic sufferers also have to deal with the repetitive (and often unpredictable) nature of panic, and the fact that others cannot fully appreciate the intensity of the experience. Search the web and you’ll find a ton of strategies to deal with panic attacks.  In my opinion, very few (none in fact that I have found) adequately address different types of panic attacks.  While I do not explicitly address tips for dealing with panic here, I believe we can optimize our coping strategies for anxiety attacks by first identifying what the panic is and what it is signifying.  I identify six types of panic that I have observed in clinical practice below. I do not accept that panic attacks “come out of nowhere.” While cues may not be easily identifiable, experience has taught me that there is ALWAYS …

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