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As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself…The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.

— Bessel van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

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More quotes by Bessel van der Kolk

One thing is certain: Yelling at someone who is already out of control can only lead to further dysregulation.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

A major challenge in recovering from trauma remains being able to achieve a state of total relaxation and safe surrender.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

Scared animals return home, regardless of whether home is safe or frightening.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

It takes enormous trust and courage to allow yourself to remember.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

No matter how much insight and understanding we develop, the rational brain is basically impotent to talk the emotional brain out of its own reality.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Bessel van der Kolk (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.