He is a professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and president of the Trauma Research Foundation in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Van der Kolk developed an interest in studying traumatic stress in 1978 while working with Vietnam war veterans suffering from PTSD[3] and serving on the Harvard Medical School faculty.

In 1982, van der Kolk started the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts while he was working as a junior faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

[16] Van der Kolk filed a lawsuit against the Justice Resource Institute and its leadership for several counts of action, including breach of contract, misrepresentation, and defamation.

It focuses on the central role of the attachment system and social environment to protect against developing trauma related disorders and explores a large variety of interventions to recover from the impact of traumatic experiences.

[25][26] Martin Kristen of The Washington Post criticized Van der Kolk for promoting "uncertain science", such as mirror neurons, the polyvagal theory, and the triune brain model.

[27] Similarly, Peter Barglow, writing for the Skeptical Inquirer, criticized him for endorsing controversial treatments, including EMDR and emotional freedom technique.