"The Body Keeps the Score" book discussion (Healing Trauma)

Update: Hi All, I needed to stay later at work today. Please start without me.
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Please note: We're meeting at the Erna Fergusson Library this time.

Join us for discussing the influential and thought-provoking book, "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, & Body in the Healing of Trauma" by Bessel Van Der Kolk.

The author explains how trauma can occur in many forms, in response to singular or repeated adverse events. The author also explores how trauma creates physiological changes in the brain and nervous system, the affect of trauma on children, normal vs. traumatic memories, and most importantly, paths to healing trauma.

The book is composed of five parts. Each time we meet, we'll discuss one or two parts, along with some of the paths to recovery in part five.
We'll start with a short mindfulness of breathing and self-compassion meditation. After the meditation, each person will have a chance to share their name and one thing you found interesting or helpful from the section, and then we'll have open discussion.

We ask participants to create a safe space for listening, sharing, and healing by practice compassion and non-judgmental awareness for everyone in the book discussion group. The discussion of trauma can be intense, so kindness is really important here.

For this meeting, we'll discuss:

• Part Three: "The Minds of Children", pages 107-172.

This important section helps us understand the long lasting impact of trauma experienced in childhood, including our attachment patterns that we carry into adulthood. These patterns can greatly effect our adult relationships.

Feel free to come even if you don't have time to read the book. The discussion and meditation will still be beneficial.

Here is the Amazon description:
"Number one New York Times best seller
“Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society.” (Alexander McFarlane, director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies)
A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing in this New York Times best seller.
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent more than three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.
He explores innovative treatments - from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga - that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal - and offers new hope for reclaiming lives."