This weekend you can watch for free the above film about Dr. Gabor Maté, who wrote many books about trauma and its impact on our health.

Last week was the premiere of the movie, accompanied by talks led by Dr. Gabor Maté with many professionals dealing with the theory of trauma but also people who help traumatized individuals in more practical ways. All these talks are also available for free this weekend and if you want to access them later, you can support the film and pay for the access anytime, whenever it’s more convenient for you to see it. I strongly recommend watching it all.

This film is beautifully shot and very well explains Dr. Maté’s theories and ideas about trauma. As he describes it: “Every human has a true authentic self. Trauma is the disconnection from it and healing is the reconnection to it.” He also believes that it suppresses our immune system and causes many health problems. His goal is to destigmatize the addiction and to treat it as illness caused by childhood wounds. But most of all to educate people and change the way they think about themselves.

As Dr. Maté clarifies, trauma is not the bad things that happened to us but our reaction to them. It is the cause of addiction but also chronic diseases and mental health problems. He demystifies the addiction as a coping mechanism. In the film we follow Dr. Maté and hear him talking to such personalities as Russell Brand or Tim Ferriss but also to vulnerable individuals he is helping to rebuild their lives. We also see other people, inspired by Dr. Maté’s books, working with homeless community in Vancouver, Canada or Maximum Security Prison in California.

According to Dr. Maté we are currently dealing with an autoimmune disorder epidemic and depression outbreak caused by the transgenerational trauma and we need to collectively heal to change our world for the better in the future. But to do that we need more vulnerability and compassion in our relations. We also need to feel the sense of community and connection with other humans. Finally, we need to change the whole way our society is organized because it is based on false foundations.

To learn more about trauma and its impact on our life you should also watch Dr. Maté’s interviews with such people as professor of psychiatry Dr. Stephen W. Porges, psychiatrist Stan Grof, psychologist Dr. Peter A. Levine, psychotherapist Esther Perel and writer V (formerly known as Eve Ensler, author of ‘The Vagina Monologues’) among others. Two of the talks concentrate on the influence of trauma on art — one with Alanis Morissette and another one with Sia. All of them throw light on various aspects of trauma and are very enlightening. It’s a real treat. Take advantage of it.

You can find it all on the official website of this very informative film co-directed by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo: https://wisdomoftrauma.com.