Finding Mastery: Conversations With Michael Gervais

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of posttraumatic stress.He has spent his career studying how people adapt to traumatic experiences, and has translated emerging findings from neuroscience and attachment research to develop and study a range of potentially effective treatments for traumatic stress.You might be thinking, “Well I don’t have PTSD, how does this conversation apply to me?”What you might be surprised to learn is how many of us are affected by trauma but just don’t realize it.According to Dr. van der Kolk’s research, 75% of Americans suffer from some type of past traumatic experience.In this conversation, he shares strategies for getting to the root of the trauma.Trauma comes in many forms and so do people’s responses to it.What’s important to remember is just because someone looks like they have it all together on the outside doesn’t mean everything’s ok on the inside.In Dr. van der Kolk’s words:“Some people adapt amazingly wel