2 Books and 2 Comedy Specials I still recommend beyond "The Body Keeps the Score."

My very first private practice EMDR client came to me after just having read The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk.

I'll never forget how excited and mentally prepared this client seemed.

So I downloaded the audiobook.

And 7 years later, thanks to Cassidy DuHadway, I can finally admit that I retained very little of that book.

Maybe it's because the information overlapped with training I had just gotten.

Maybe it's because that book is incredibly technical and not ideal for the audiobook format.

Whatever the case...

If you didn't totally vibe with The Body Keeps the Score, let me put you on to a few alternatives.

You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience, An Anthology (2022)

This is an edited collection of writers sharing their own experiences with hurt, openness and healing. It does a solid job of illuminating multiple paths through challenging experiences.

If you or your clients need to see more options of what healing could look like, this is a great option.

Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Daily Life

If you've ever been starved for some professional inspiration, Dr. Jamie Marich will pep you right up. Dr. Marich leads by example, pulling research and personal experience into a coherent book.

The book normalizes the experience of dissociation, and if you've been a little afraid of dissociation, I highly recommend a read. (And it's good as an audiobook too.)

A Whole Me, Yvonne Orji

This is trauma-informed comedy.

There's even EMDR demonstration in the middle of it.

I know I recommended this to you at the time it came out. And I know you got busy and didn't watch it yet.

Go watch it.

Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark

Marc Maron isn't for everyone. I repeat. Marc. Maron. Isn't. For. Everyone. He's got a potty-mouth and a dark sense of humor.

But this special in particular is fascinating as he walks through the process of trying to be a person again after deep, tragic bereavement.

I'd watch it before you recommend it to a client. You definitely want to understand them well.

What about you? Did The Body Keeps the Score impact your understanding of trauma, or did you find a better book for you and your client population?