Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. is a world-renowned psychiatrist, researcher, and teacher who has spent over forty years studying trauma and its effects on the brain and body. He founded the Trauma Research Foundation and has served as a professor of psychiatry at Boston University. His pioneering work with veterans, abuse survivors, and children transformed the field of trauma therapy. Through his research, van der Kolk proved that the body is both the site of suffering and the key to recovery—an insight that continues to reshape psychology, medicine, and healing worldwide.