Gabor Mate
A RENOWNED SPEAKER, AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Gabor Maté (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of five books published in nearly 40 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. For his ground-breaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times and international bestseller.
Presentation One Part One with Q&A - Gabor Mate - Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture
Half of North American adults suffer from chronic illness - a fact Western medicine views largely in terms of individual predispositions and habits. Western medicine imposes two separations, neither tenable scientifically. First, it separates mind from the body, largely assuming that most illnesses have nothing to do with people's emotional and psychological experiences. And yet, a large and irrefutable body of research has clearly shown that physiologic and behavioural functioning of human beings can be understood only if we integrate our body functions with those of the mind: functions such as awareness, emotions, our interpretations of and responses to events, and our relationships with other people. This talk shows how a society dedicated to material pursuits rather than genuine human needs and spiritual values stresses its members, undermines healthy child development and dooms many to chronic illness, from diabetes to heart disease, from autoimmune conditions to cancer.
Presentation Two Part Two with Q&A - Gabor Mate - Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture
Second, Western practice views people's health as separate from the social environment, ignoring social determinants of health such as class, gender, economic status, and race. Such factors, in reality, are more important influences on health and longevity than individual predispositions and personal factors such as genes, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and so on.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify two separations imposed by Western Medicine on the health and well-being of the population
2. Name three chronic conditions that are correlated with stressful social environments
3. Describe one shift in focus that would support a healthier population
