Workshop Description
This workshop, based on the best-selling book In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts, draws on cutting-edge science to illuminate where and how addictions originate and what they have in common, whether the addiction is to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or behavioural addictions such as shopping or sex. Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to explain the roots of addiction and to encourage us to develop a compassionate approach towards the addicted individual; one that stands the best chance of restoring him or her to wholeness and health.
Topics Covered Include:
- What is the source of addictions?
- What happens chemically and physiologically in the brains of people with substance dependency or behaviour addiction?
- The false “blessings” of addiction as experienced by the addicted person (e.g., as emotional anaesthetic, as personality booster, as social lubricant, and so on)
- The development of the addicted mind: how early childhood experiences shape the brain
- The social basis of addiction in economic, cultural and political dislocation and disempowerment
- How much choice does the addicted individual really have, and how much responsibility?
- Developing a therapeutic relationship in which healing is possible
- How to encourage the addicted individual to take responsibility
- The prevention of addiction, both in adolescence and before
You will receive:
- Login details and instructions emailed in advance of the workshop
- Downloadable handouts
- Certificate of attendance upon successful completion of a brief online quiz (if desired)
- Access to a recording of the workshop for a limited period of time after the workshop - so if you can’t join live, or need to miss part of the live workshop and want to view it afterwards, we’ve got you covered!
About the Presenter
Gabor Maté (pronunciation: 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 four books published in twenty-five languages, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking 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 books include 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 (with Gordon Neufeld) Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. Gabor’s next book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma,
Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is due to be published Autumn, 2022.
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