The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment

Babette Rothschild

Praise for Body Remembers:

“[I]nvaluable for clinicians working with clients, researches, students and the general public who want to understand the psychophysiology of trauma and knowing what to do about its manifestations. . . . This book is an important contribution to the management of the various types of stress. . . . This book breaks new ground in the understanding of trauma-related work, particularly with respect to the development of resource in relation to what happened after the traumatic incidence. Every therapist who reads this book is likely to find their work benefits from it.”
—Scientific and Medical Network Journal

Overview – Excerpt – Table of Contents

For both clinicians and their clients there is tremendous value in understanding the psychophysiology of trauma and knowing what to do about its manifestations. This book illuminates that physiology, shining a bright light on the impact of trauma on the body and the phenomenon of somatic memory.

It is now thought that people who have been traumatized hold an implicit memory of traumatic events in their brains and bodies. That memory is often expressed in the symptomatology of posttraumatic stress disorder-nightmares, flashbacks, startle responses, and dissociative behaviors. In essence, the body of the traumatized individual refuses to be ignored.

While reducing the chasm between scientific theory and clinical practice and bridging the gap between talk therapy and body therapy, Rothschild presents principles and non-touch techniques for giving the body its due. With an eye to its relevance for clinicians, she consolidates current knowledge about the psychobiology of the stress response both in normally challenging situations and during extreme and prolonged trauma. This gives clinicians from all disciplines a foundation for speculating about the origins of their clients' symptoms and incorporating regard for the body into their practice. The somatic techniques are chosen with an eye to making trauma therapy safer while increasing mind-body integration.

Packed with engaging case studies, The Body Remembers integrates body and mind in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. It will appeal to clinicians, researchers, students, and general readers.

Advance Acclaim

"While mental health sciences continue to make important discoveries on the psychophysiology of psychological trauma, there are hardly any works that discuss the implications of those findings for the treatment of trauma survivors. In The Body Remembers, Babette Rothschild beautifully succeeds in bridging this gap. She not only provides a clear window on this very important subject, but also presents a highly practical integration of the psychophysiology of trauma and the ways in which clinicians may assist trauma survivors to resolve the effects of overwhelming experience on mind and body. She presents many fine, brief vignettes, and clearly demonstrates the extra value of treatment interventions at the sensorimotor level."
—Onno van der Hart, Ph.D.
Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology
Utrecht University, The Netherlands

"The new paradigm in traumatology is the incorporation of theories built upon recent findings in neurobiology. After reviewing these findings, Rothschild introduces a thorough approach to helping the traumatized. A tribute to van der Kolk's view of the 'body keeps the score,' this book is the first to combine with consistency theory, research, and practice in enabling the traumatized to have hope, recover their balance, and avoid medical maladies resulting from chronic traumatic stress."
—Charles R. Figley, Ph.D.
Director and Professor
Florida State University Traumatology Institute

"This book fulfills its major goal - to build a bridge between the practice of traditional verbal trauma therapy and body-oriented therapies. It demonstrates how the body is a resource in the treatment of PTSD. This text does an admirable job of combining the theory of how the mind and body process, record, and remember traumatic events (presented in an easily understandable format) with practice strategies to help both body and mind. As Rothschild notes, PTSD is a 'disorder of memory gone awry' that must be treated phenomenologically in a boundaried, anchored, safe internal and external setting to unite implicit and explicit memories. This book is a 'must' for the professional's library!"
—Mary Beth Williams, Ph.D., LCSW, CTS
Past President, Association for Traumatic Stress Specialists

ISBN: 0-393-70327-4
October, 2000
Hardcover, 224 pages