Is That Bullshit? Hip Check: Does the Body Keep the Score?

The phrase “the body keeps the score” originates from Bessel van der Kolk’s 2014 bestseller, which reframed trauma as a physiological process rather than a purely psychological event. Van der Kolk argued that repeated adverse experiences, such as childhood abuse, reshape the nervous system and alter stress‑response set points. He even pushed for a new DSM diagnosis—developmental trauma disorder—to capture these chronic effects. This framing resonated beyond academia, spawning countless podcasts, workshops, and yoga classes that claim the body literally records trauma.

Yoga studios often cite the hips—or the psoas muscle—as trauma reservoirs, suggesting that a deep stretch can release buried emotions. While muscle cells do exhibit a form of cellular memory, such as increased mitochondria after training, they lack the synaptic complexity required for episodic recall. Neuroscientists explain that true memory traces reside in neural networks, where billions of adjustable synapses encode specific experiences. Consequently, the body may mirror stress through tension or pain, but the detailed narrative of a trauma remains stored in the brain.

Public fascination with repressed‑memory therapy has surged, with recent polls showing over 90 % of respondents believing forgotten trauma can be recovered. Scientific reviews, however, warn that such claims conflict with current models of memory consolidation and retrieval. The popular notion that “the body keeps the score” therefore oversimplifies a complex neurobiological reality: stress hormones can sensitize bodily systems, yet the brain orchestrates the precise recall of past events. Recognizing this distinction helps clinicians separate useful stress‑management techniques from unfounded mystical explanations. This clarity guides evidence‑based practice and reduces hype.