Think back four or five weeks ago. How much of what you were engaged in then seems relatively trivial now? How much has the experience of coronavirus already clarified what your values really are? When you see people standing in the street, clapping for their healthcare workers; or Europeans on their balconies, serenading each other through lockdown, how does that make you feel?

For this week’s podcast, I was honoured to welcome back Dr Gabor Maté, one of the most important voices globally on health, compassion and addiction, to discuss the life lessons that might emerge from this pandemic. This podcast contains tremendous insights on the value of sitting with our feelings; how we can avoid passing our anxieties on to our kids; as well as why some of us can be so judgemental of others during a crisis.

Whilst we both fully endorse the medical advice on staying at home, we discuss the social and economic damage that is arising from this essential policy. What will the consequences of isolation be on our mental health? And afterwards – will we be so grateful to go back to our lives that we’ll forget the lessons we’ve learned? Or, could this challenge be the biggest opportunity for growth we’ve ever lived through, personally and as a society? Listen now to find out.

Watch the video version of this interview in full below.

Watch the interview here

Further learning:

• You can find many of Dr Maté’s lectures via his YouTube channel
• When the Body Says No — Caring for ourselves while caring for others. Dr. Gabor Maté
• Gabor Maté: Consequences of Stressed Parenting
• Trauma, Healing and The Brain: Community Learning Event, Dr. Gabor Mate
• A Q&A with Dr. Gabor Maté: The Essential Elements of Successful Teen Treatment
• American Academy of Pediatrics – The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress
• The Journal of Pediatrics – Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Fussing and Crying Durations and Prevalence of Colic in Infants
• Internal Family Systems