Healing from Trauma | Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Though often invisible in our society, studies have shown that more than seven out of ten people experience trauma at some point in their lives, whether it's physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or a life-threatening accident or illness. In this episode, we speak with Bessel van der Kolk, MD, a psychiatrist and pioneering researcher on post-traumatic stress. His 2014 book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, spent 27 weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. He is the past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss why Dr. van der Kolk began studying trauma, the role of non-pharmaceutical methods in treating post-traumatic stress, how health care providers can overcome the psychological and emotional burden of encountering stressful situations in their practice, and how we can get back in touch with the irreducible human dimensions of love, belonging, and meaning through creativity, fellowship, self-expression, and imagination.In this episode, you will hear about:Why Dr. van der Kolk finds trauma a fascinating area of study - 2:16How Dr. van der Kolk views the emotional burden he carries from helping patients - 3:47A discussion of empathy and sympathy, and how they impact physicians dealing with patient suffering on a daily basis - 7:53Self-compassion: what does it look like and how do you cultivate it? - 14:10A discussion of trauma how it manifests physically and mentally - 19:22The difference between the “top-down” and “bottom-up” paradigms of coping with trauma and stress - 29:31How the complexities of trauma have been oversimplified repeatedly throughout history - 32:06Advice on cultivating a compassionate and sympathetic mindset for new physicians - 41:36How medical practitioners can safely process the trauma of medical training - 47:38Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to [email protected] The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023