Gabor Maté, is an influential physician who knows what it means to think outside the box. His efforts have provided leadership in harm reduction and uncovering the mystery of addiction. Harm reduction is controversial. It is a theory of practice in dealing with addiction that is hard to swallow for mainstream America, but in some circles, it is viewed as necessary. Gabor makes sense out of it. he has committed his practice to working in the trenches with the worst the world of addiction has to offer, primarily in Vancouver. He does it in a way that only the context of raw addictive behavior gives it unmistakeable clarity. In 2009, Maté published In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a book that describes his realty of working in a Vancouver skid row addiction clinic. The Fifth Estate is a Canadian CBC news show that did a focused film series on Maté, his colleagues and several drug addicted patients. It included an episode about Maté’s clinic called Staying Alive.
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June 26, 2011 at 1:07 am
peglud
I did a longer blog post featuring Dr. Gabor Mate, and his important harm reduction work, about 16 months ago. Please visit my blog, Helplessly hoping . . . to read it: Staying Alive: http://peglud.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/staying-alive/
June 26, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Bill Ford
Thanks for that Peg. I appreciate your blog and acknowledgement of Gabor Mate. It at least takes people who have endured hardship in the world of addiction and recovery to appreciate what influential professionals like Mate are doing.