PAST EVENT
Gabor Maté M.D. is a physician and best-selling author whose books have been published in twenty languages internationally. His interests include child development, the mind-body unity in health and illness, and the treatment of addictions. Gabor has worked in palliative care and as a family physician, and for fourteen years practiced addiction medicine in Vancouver Downtown Eastside.
As a speaker he regularly addresses professional and lay audiences throughout North America. Dr. Maté is the co-founder of Compassion for Addiction and on the advisory board of Drugs over Dinner. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including a Simon Fraser University Outstanding Alumnus Award and an honourary degree from the University of Northern British Columbia. His most recent book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, won the Hubert Evans Prize for literary nonfiction. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Criminology, Simon Fraser University.
It was such a pleasure working with The Base and Dr Maté to bring you the Wounded Healer lecture. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the global livestream – we hope you were as moved and inspired by Dr. Maté’s work as we were.
IMPORTANT NOTE: regardless when purchased, this video was only available until June 26, 2018.
Looking to learn more from Dr. Maté? Visit his website HERE!
We can learn from our own wounds and those of others, because all wounds instruct and most wounds can heal. We can learn how to survive and heal. Had I waited with my teaching until I was fully healed — that is, fully aware of my wholeness — I would not have written a book, given a single lecture, led a seminar or workshop. The point is not to wait for healing, but to be aware of where we perceive ourselves as wounded or incomplete.
The dangerous ones are not those who are not healed, but the ones who believe they are without being so. Thus, they don’t do the work they try to induce others to do. The compulsive attempt to fix in others, that which we haven’t resolved in ourselves, is a real pitfall for all health care givers, counsellors, or for anyone. What draws me to help others the most is freedom, whether political or personal. Transformation is the most inspiring phenomenon on earth, when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis stage and becomes free to soar. We all yearn for that. I do. It’s exciting and humbling to help facilitate that for others.”
Tonight we’ll engage some of my favourite questions:
Is it our own woundedness that pulls us to helping others? Do we try to fix in others, that which needs healing in ourselves? What can we learn from the most wounded among us? How can the most marginalized people become our teachers? In what ways do our wounds become our strengths? What are the costs of postponing our leadership until we have done our healing work? What are the costs of postponing our healing work because we are too busy taking care of business?
THE BASE | We are meant to be more than our current way of living reveals. We know that all life is connected and we want to explore how to live that truth more fully right now. Together we are leaving behind our segregated and self-protective roles and exploring the future we were born for. We are awakening into a consciousness of wholeness through spiritual practices including meditation, inquiry, prayer, music, deep listening, and movement.
Our vision is to open a physical space in downtown Victoria to host daily gatherings, classes, workshops, and retreats. In the meantime we are renting spaces to hold our events.
The Songhees Wellness Centre of the Songhees (Lekwungen) Nation is one of Vancouver Island’s most stunning venues, offering wellness programs including primary health clinics, pre- and post-natal care and chronic disease prevention and management. The centre also organizes family wellness events including community meals, games and activities, and cultural skills sharing. Other services include a computer lab, Elders Centre, fitness studio, and event rental space. A built and maintained LEED Silver building of 55,000 sq.ft, it has a geothermal heating plant, in-floor radiant heat and a rooftop solar array.
“Our people wanted something to call their own, a gathering space, but it’s become more than that,” said Chief Ron Sam, in the office wing of the new building that overlooks a stunning seaside panorama. He said the centre encompasses wellness: physical, cultural, spiritual and financial.
*NOTE: IN-PERSON TICKETS FOR THIS EVENT ARE NOW SOLD OUT
