The True Causes of Addiction – Dr. Gabor Maté – HPP 40

Episode 40

Dr. Gabor Maté

Our guest, Dr. Gabor Maté, a renowned speaker and bestselling author, sheds light on the true nature of addiction, and why so many of us fall victim to this harsh reality.

Society has created an ideal around feeling “normal” and finding “mental sanity,” when we do not even have a clear definition of what“mental sanity” is. So many people struggle with emotional pain on a day-to-day basis. When that pain becomes overwhelming, especially from early childhood trauma and attachment injuries, it’s human nature to try and escape that pain until it gets resolved.

Gabor describes his clinical experience of helping those struggling with addiction, and how he concluded that addiction is always a strategy to escape from emotional pain, trauma, and attachments injuries during childhood. He speaks authentically and shares about his experience of addiction, while giving hope with the basic aspects that help people heal.

Show Notes:

What led Dr. Gabor Maté into working with substance abusers [10:15]

You may have an addiction you don’t know about [11:15]

The dissociative nature of certain addictions [15:30]

Why people fall back on their addiction [21:30]

How workaholism made Gabor feel wanted [30:30]

How to truly help clients with addictions [35:00]

Accessing emotions in the present as a tool for healing [39:30]

Dr. Gabor Maté

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics, from addiction to mind-body wellness. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them. As an author, Dr. Maté has written several bestselling books including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. His works have been published internationally in twenty languages. Dr. Maté is the co-founder of Compassion for Addiction, a new non-profit that focuses on addiction. He is also an advisor of Drugs over Dinner. Dr. Maté has received the Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction; an Honorary Degree (Law) from the University of Northern British Columbia; an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Simon Fraser University; and the 2012 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Mothers Against Teen Violence. He is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Criminology, Simon Fraser University.

Previous PostThe Myth of Forgiveness - HPP 41
Next PostMy Inner Circle: An Intimate Conversation About Relationships, Love, Mental Health and Spirituality - HPP 39

© 2024 Integrative Psychiatry Institute

Will Van Derveer, MD is co-founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI), along with friend and colleague Keith Kurlander, MA. He co-created IPI as an expression of what he stands for. First, that anyone can heal, and second that we medical providers must embrace our own healing journeys in order to fully command our potency as healers.

Dr. Van Derveer spent the last 20 years innovating and testing a comprehensive approach to addressing psychiatric challenges which transcends the conventional model he learned in medical school at Vanderbilt University and residency at University of Colorado, while deeply engaging his own healing path.

He founded the Integrative Psychiatric Healing Center in in 2001 in Boulder, CO, where he currently practices. Dr. Van Derveer regards unresolved emotional trauma as the most significant root cause of psychiatric symptoms in integrative psychiatry practice, along with gut issues, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other functional medicine challenges. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and other psychotherapy techniques. His current clinical passion is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which he mentors interested doctors in providing. An avid meditator, he has been a meditation instructor since 2004.

For the past several years Dr. Van Derveer has taught psychiatrists and other psychiatric providers integrative psychiatry in a number of settings, including course directing the CU psychiatry residents’ course as well as with Scott Shannon and Janet Settle at the Psychiatry MasterClass. In addition to his clinical work and teaching, he was co-investigator in 2016 a Phase II randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He continues to support this protocol, now in a Phase III clinical trial under break-through designation by FDA.

Dr. Van Derveer is a diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine (ABoIHM) since 2013, and he was board certified in the first wave of diplomates of the new American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABIM) in 2016.