Psychology · Similar reads
Books like The Body Keeps the Score
The best books like The Body Keeps the Score are Man's Search for Meaning, When Breath Becomes Air, and Why We Sleep. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is about trauma, neuroscience, healing. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Man's Search for Meaning
01
Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology
Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.
A kindred psychology read.
Read the summary → - When Breath Becomes Air
02
Paul Kalanithi · Memoir
When Breath Becomes Air is Paul Kalanithi's account of his life before and after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at 36, while completing his residency in neurosurgery at Stanford.
A kindred psychology read.
Read the summary → - Why We Sleep
03
Matthew Walker · Science
Why We Sleep is Matthew Walker's attempt to do for sleep what no amount of public health messaging has managed: make people genuinely afraid of what they're losing.
Both dig into neuroscience.
Read the summary →
- Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
04
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
Robert M. Sapolsky · Science
Behave is Robert Sapolsky's attempt to explain why humans do what they do — the violence, the altruism, the tribalism, the heroism — by working through every layer of biology that contributes to a single act.
Both dig into neuroscience.
Read the summary → - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
05
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Susan Cain · Psychology
Quiet is Susan Cain's argument that Western culture — and American culture in particular — has built itself around an "Extrovert Ideal" that systematically undervalues roughly a third to a half of the population.
A kindred psychology read.
Read the summary → - In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
06
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
Peter A. Levine · Psychology
Peter Levine's central claim is that trauma is not primarily a psychological wound but a physiological one.
Shares trauma and healing with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
07
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
Peter A. Levine · Psychology
Peter Levine's argument begins with animals.
Shares trauma and healing with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - Anatomy of the Spirit
08
Caroline Myss · Health
Anatomy of the Spirit is Caroline Myss's attempt to synthesize three major spiritual traditions — the Hindu chakra system, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life — into a unified model of human energy anatomy.
Shares healing and mind-body connection with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
09
Gabor Maté · Health
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is Gabor Maté's book about addiction, written while he was working as a physician in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, one of North America's most concentrated pockets of poverty, drug use, and homelessness.
Shares trauma and neuroscience with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - The Myth of Normal
10
Gabor Maté · Health
The Myth of Normal is Gabor Maté's most ambitious book, co-written with his son Daniel Maté.
Shares trauma and healing with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - When the Body Says No
11
Gabor Maté · Health
When the Body Says No is Gabor Maté's investigation into how chronic stress and emotional suppression contribute to serious illness.
Shares trauma and mind-body connection with The Body Keeps the Score.
Read the summary → - A General Theory of Love
12
Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon · Psychology
A General Theory of Love is a 2000 book by three psychiatrists at the University of California, San Francisco — Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon — who set out to explain love scientifically without stripping it of its significance.
Both dig into neuroscience.
Read the summary →
Books like The Body Keeps the Score: quick answers
What are the best books like The Body Keeps the Score?
The best books like The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk are Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Body Keeps the Score, such as trauma, neuroscience, healing.
What should I read after The Body Keeps the Score?
A natural next read after The Body Keeps the Score is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. A kindred psychology read. Other strong choices are When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky.
What books are similar to The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk?
The Body Keeps the Score centers on trauma, neuroscience, healing. Books with a similar feel include Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
