Keynote ACES to Assets 2019 – Dr Gabor Maté – Understanding addiction as a result of trauma

Scotland is in the midst of a growing grassroots movement aimed at increasing public awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We now have glaring scientific evidence that childhood adversity can create harmful levels of stress, especially if a child is left to manage their responses to that adversity without emotionally reliable relationships. The vision for ACE Aware Nation is that all 5 million citizens of Scotland should have access to this information. The ‘ACEs to Assets Conference’ was held on 11 June 2019 in Glasgow, drawing an audience of nearly 2000 members of the public keen to explore actions that can be taken to prevent and heal the impacts of childhood trauma.

In this film, we hear from Dr. Gabor Maté, international expert on trauma, who explores the theme of trauma as disconnection from the self and why relationships are central to the prevention and recovery of trauma. Addiction, he argues, is one result of that disconnection from self.

We thought viewers might like to know of the experience of Gillian McIlroy, who can be seen in the film volunteering to take up Dr. Maté’s invitation to participate in the ‘Happy Childhood Challenge’. It can take courage to choose to have such an intimate conversation in a very public setting, even with Dr. Maté’s reassurances that she remains in full charge of what she chooses to share. Gillian contacted us afterward to say how honoured she had been to participate in the conversation, having been following Dr. Maté’s work for several years. She sent us this message to share with viewers: "I am fully supportive of Gabor Maté and his work, and I participated voluntarily and happily in this conversation. I give my written permission for the use of the video of my participation and for publicly sharing my name in relation to it.”

Видео Keynote ACES to Assets 2019 – Dr Gabor Maté – Understanding addiction as a result of trauma канала ACE-Aware Scotland