Bessel van der Kolk

"The single most important issue for traumatized people is to find a sense of safety in their own bodies."

"Language gives us the ability to install new beliefs and to actually change our brain chemistry."

"Feeling safe is a prerequisite for being able to learn and change."

"Many people who are traumatized become locked into specific patterns of behavior and perception."

"Our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another."

"The brain's job is to predict and prepare for the future based on past experience."

"Trauma prevents people from being fully present in their lives."

"Play is fundamental to the organization of the brain and to healing."

"Mindfulness allows us to observe our thoughts without being controlled by them."

"Our social connections are fundamental to our survival and our healing."

"Creative expression can be more powerful than words in processing trauma."

"The mind exists in relationship to the body; they cannot be separated."

"Being able to feel safe with other people is fundamental to recovery from trauma."

"Children who are ignored develop the opposite of trust: a sense of worthlessness."

"We are not victims of our neurobiology, but we are also not independent of it."

"Disconnection is the core issue in trauma."

"The right side of the brain processes the world in images and feelings."

"Self-regulation is a fundamental capacity that needs to be developed and practiced."

"Our internal experience becomes our reality."

"Healing happens in relationship; we cannot do it alone."

"The body remembers what the mind has forgotten."

"Fear can be a great teacher if we learn to listen to it."

"Integration of our fragmented selves is the goal of healing."

"The nervous system is the foundation of all psychological experience."

"People who have been traumatized often blame themselves for what happened to them."

"Authentic communication requires vulnerability."

"The capacity to play is a sign of psychological health."

"We learn who we are from our early relationships."

"Movement is essential for processing emotions that are stored in the body."

"Our memories are reconstructed every time we recall them."