Over the years at London real I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to some of the most pioneering thinkers on the planet. People who change the way we view the world, how we navigate our daily lives, and when we’re lucky people who help us to make a positive change that not only impacts our life, but also our relationships with those around us.
Today’s guest is right up there and certainly one of my favourite interviewees in over ten years of broadcasting. Dr Gabor Maté is a physician, trauma expert, international speaker, bestselling author, and one of the most sought after voices in the world for his expertise in the areas of addiction, stress and childhood development.
Dr Maté’s early career saw him spend 20 years running a family practice in his hometown of Vancouver before following that up as the medical coordinator in the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver hospital. He then spent over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. It was this experience which really informed the journey his life has since taken and the enormous dedication he has shown to helping people recover from past traumatic experiences and negotiate a rational life path moving forward.
His exemplary work around mental health in adults brought on through childhood experience has revolutionised the way we think about the root cause of illness, and the undoubted connection between the mind, body and spirit.
As a bestselling author of five books including, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and co-author of Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, Dr Maté has become the pre-eminent voice in his field.
These books have been translated in over thirty languages and Dr Maté was awarded the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. On top of this, he was awarded his country’s most prestigious civilian distinction, the Order of Canada. He is also the co-developer of a therapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by hundreds of therapists, physicians, counsellors, and others around the world.
He is also a vocal advocate for the use of ayahuasca as a natural therapy in helping to heal patients, something which has been at times controversial from a mainstream perspective, but through his own personal journey proven to be a valid tool in creating a healing pathway.
Dr Maté’s latest book ‘The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture’, examines the worrying rise of chronic sickness throughout a Western world that prides itself on being at the forefront of modern-day healthcare. It is a book that has been a long time in the writing, and calls upon years of comprehensive research, case studies and experimentation, to finally deliver the answers as to why so many are so sick, and the normalisation of chronic illness in today’s society.
I genuinely look forward to and enjoy time spent in Gabor’s company. I learn so much and find his attitude and approach incredibly refreshing and enlightening. In previous conversations we’ve shone the spotlight on my own past experiences and current behaviours in a way that truly opened my eyes, so I’m sure today will be no different and I can’t wait to take a deep dive and explore the messages and solutions covered in this book.
“We may not be responsible for the world that created our minds, but we can take responsibility for the mind with which we create our world.”
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Download clips
A number of clips from this exclusive interview are now available to download, share and repost. Spread the word: grab these clips today!
- COVID trauma and depression
- Trauma is what happens inside you
- Social conditions, illnesses and medication
- Take responsibility for your own health
- What should you do when kids argue
- Workaholism and relationships
- Workaholism and family life
- The Ayahuasca experience
- Dealing with past trauma
- People are either giving love or they’re asking for it
- Writing “The Myth of Normal”
- This is a book that’s intended to help people heal
