A topic that interests me as an adult is the effects that personal trauma has on individuals. Now I know this doesn’t make for very cheery, positive study material but for me it gives me a greater understanding of myself. Coming from a very traumatic upbringing and living with the challenges of addiction it’s important for me to learn about the topic to work on my own self care.
This has led me to discover the work of Dr. Gabor Maté. You might not know who he is so here’s a brief summary.
Gabor Maté (born January 6, 1944) is a Hungarian-born Canadian physician. He has a background in family practice and a special interest in childhood development and trauma, and in their potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health, including on autoimmune disease, cancer, ADHD, addictions, and a wide range of other conditions. Now retired from clinical practice, he travels and speaks extensively on these and related topics, both in North America and abroad. His books have been published internationally in over twenty-five languages. Maté’s approach to addiction focuses on the trauma his patients have suffered and looks to address this in their recovery, with special regard to indigenous populations around the world.
Dr. Maté has written four best selling books on the topics of Addiction, ADHD, Stress and Parenting. I’ve listed them below:
Dr. Maté is also known for his speaking, whether it be in front of a live audience, podcasts or Youtube content. One video from Youtube that really stands out to me is this one on ‘Childhood Trauma and Addiction’ as it helps understanding how a lot of the Childhood trauma that I experienced led me towards addiction as a young adult.
I found this and many other amazing videos on the After Skool Youtube channel. They are a group of animators collaborating together to find and presenting the most powerful content and delivering it in the most engaging way possible. For me it really helps to have visual accompaniment to help communicate the ideas being discussed. I’ll be watching a lot more of their videos in the future.
So that’s my blog share for today. I hope, like me, you’ve managed to learn a few things from Dr. Maté’s words.
Until next time, “Strength for Life”
Davie McConnachie
Davie McConnachie is Scotland’s leading health and wellness coach, multi-award-winning gym owner, motivational speaker and the founder of DMC Fitness, a fitness education facility known as the premier choice for 1-2-1 personal training. He has inspired thousands of people to fall in love with fitness – his true purpose and mission in life.
Diving into the world of fitness and wellness has helped Davie to deal with his own trauma and inner demons. He, overcame many dark times using his own unique methods to continue his cycle of healing.