Sign up in early January for next Mental Wellness Book Club

Registration will begin in early January for the next Mental Wellness Book Club, which will feature “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma” by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk.

Because of this program’s ongoing popularity, two concurrent sessions will be offered for this book discussion from noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at the William Pitt Union. Registration will be limited to 16 participants in each of the two sessions and each participant will receive a copy of the book to read in advance of the discussion. Registration is expected to open during the first week of classes and will be announced in a Read Green email. 

Bessel van der Kolk, an expert on trauma, has spent over 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,” according to Penguin Books.

The Mental Wellness Book Club is a project of the Mental Wellness Task Force of the University Senate’s Benefits and Welfare Committee and is presented in cooperation with the University’s faculty and staff assistance program, Life Solutions.