Navigating Emotional Turmoil in Crisis Conversations

In this episode we bring you excerpts from an online SAND Community Gathering with Gabor and Daniel Maté hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo from February 2024. Also present in this episode is Betsy Polatin offering guided meditation and grounding exercises as everyone navigates these difficult conversations. Lastly SAND presenter Deran Young ends the episode with a question on Racialized Trauma.

You can watch the full video conversation here

No statement, no words can speak to the immense suffering, devastation and horrendous humanitarian crisis intensifying in the Middle East. The current tragedy awakens existential fear, acute grief and deep despair. It also creates a rift among friends and families. Many are in a state of deep shock and in need of support, and the obstacles to communicating with loved ones only intensify the anguish.

In this Q&A session, Dr. Gabor Maté and his son Daniel discussed ways to listen and communicate across different perspectives and narratives.

Gabor Maté, M.D. is a specialist on trauma, addiction, stress and childhood development. After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. Gabor is also the creator of a psychotherapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by thousands of therapists, physicians, counselors, and others in over 80 countries.

Daniel Maté is a composer, lyricist, and playwright for musical theatre based in BC and New York. He has been active since 2007, when he graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing. He also holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from McGill.

Daniel received the prestigious Edward Kleban Prize for Most Promising Lyricist in American Musical Theatre, a Jonathan Larson Foundation Grant, and the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award for Excellence in Music and Lyrics (for his song cycle The Longing and the Short of It.) He has presented his work at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and New York’s Lincoln Center, and was an invited participant in the inaugural Johnny Mercer Writers Colony.

Betsy Polatin, MFA, SEP, an internationally recognized breathing/movement specialist and best- selling author, has been teaching for 45 years. Her unique and intuitive perspectives are greatly influenced by the study of movement, breath, and trauma, as well as the teachings of spiritual and meditation masters. She speaks at conferences around the world.

As a well-known educator, she’s had numerous articles published in the Huffington Post, and is the author of The Actor’s Secret and Humanual.

Deran Young is a licensed therapist specializing in racial trauma and legacy burdens. She is also a Co-Author of the New York Times Best Seller, You Are Your Best Thing, a retired military officer, & founder of Black Therapists Rock. Black Therapists Rock is a non profit organization with a network of over 30,000 mental health professionals committed to reducing the psychological impact of systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma. She obtained her social work degree from University of Texas, where she studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa for two semesters creating a high school counseling center for under-resourced students. Deran has visited over 37 different countries and her clinical experience spans across four different continents. Her passion for culture and people has led her to become a highly sought after diversity and inclusion consultant working with companies like BBERG, Facebook, Linked In, and YWCA. She resides in the Washington DC area with her 10 year old son.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:04:10 – Gabor Maté Introduction
• 00:09:56 – Daniel Maté Introduction
• 00:18:48 – Gabor’s Learning During this Violence since October 7
• 00:21:23 – Betsy Polatin Grounding Practice
• 00:24:31 – Gabor Responds to Comments in the Chat, speaking to ALL suffering
• 00:26:47 – Question: "What is the most effective way to break through Zionists Friends"
• 00:35:58 – Question: “How to Respond to Friends and Circles on Social Media”
• 00:38:34 – Question: “Responding to Israeli Sufferings from October 7”
• 00:51:12 – Betsy Calming Exercise
• 00:54:33 – Question: “Legacy of Dehumanization in this Conflict”
• 00:59:43 – Question: “Speaking Out in Jewish Communities”
• 01:04:52 – Question: “Addressing the War Machine(s)”
• 01:10:27 – The Misconceptions About Safety and Comfort in these Discussions
• 01:14:48 – Deran Young on Racialized Trauma
• 01:19:56 – Betsy Closing Meditation

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