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01-06-15: A 2014 Interview with Bessel van der Kolk

Click image for audio link.
"...being able to see what happens in the brain really helps us to understand certain things..."
—Bessel van der Kolk

Bessel van der Kolk has an imposing presence; he lives up to his name, and indeed to 'The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.' But when you sit down to talk to him, he's funny and easy-going even when he delving into the combination of deep science and intense emotion that is his subject. Talking about trauma with him is anything but traumatic.

Van der Kolk may not be a household name, but he should be – and this may be the book that makes it happen. He's been working on trauma for more than 50 years, and he brings the right combination of human intuition, an ineffable sensibility, and scientific rigor to ground his subject and make it accessible to lay readers and listeners.

To a certain degree we worked our way through his book, discussing the basics of trauma, trauma in children and the developmental trauma that so differs from other trauma, to some of the healing techniques he helped discover, including EMDR.

But we also fell into a very conversational rhythm, and were mutually enthused by notions of the fashions in science, stepping back from the specifics to get the big picture. Though we had a rather limited time, we still managed to talk for over an hour. You can hear our in-depth, long-form conversation by following this link to the MP3 audio file.




01-06-15 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 189: Bessel van der Kolk

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Here's the one-hundred eighty-ninth episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read.

I've been worjking for more of a live format lately, and to this end in this Time to Read "lightning round," I've included some of the banter beforehand, to give a feel for the atmosphere when we run these little mini-interviews. The boom line: THey're a fun way to finish off the gig.

The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.

My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.

The one-hundred eighty-ninth episode is a look at Bessel van der Kolk and 'The Body Keeps the Score.'

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 189: Bessel van der Kolk, 'The Body Keeps the Score'.



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Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 206: Dan Simmons : The Fifth Heart

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Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

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