Dr. Gabor Maté provides a profoundly human insight into the struggles of the often overlooked members of society and reveals the underlying trauma that is the source of many of the world’s problems. How many times have you passed by a homeless person or drug addict on the street? Have you ever felt disgust? Have you ever judged them for ending up that way?

The Wisdom of Trauma predominantly focuses on Dr. Gabor Maté, a Canadian physician who fled Germany with his mother after surviving the Holocaust. Despite this adverse childhood experience, Maté went on to be a very successful doctor, speaker, and advocate for harm reduction. Nevertheless, his personal life was rife with conflict. How could such a well-spoken and thoughtful successful person not manage to connect with his family? The Answer: Trauma.

Trauma is a word that we hear often, mainly as a buzzword or a catch-all term, But what exactly is trauma? According to Gabor Mate, “Trauma is not the bad things that happen to you but what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.” Many of us may be carrying wounds that have been passed down from generation to generation unaware of the source of this pain. Maté argues that we as a society are collectively traumatized and our social structure induces trauma which then induces escapism and addictive behaviors.

In drawn animations and photos, The Wisdom of Trauma takes us back to Maté’s childhood. At just one year old, Maté’s family suffered the consequences of the Holocaust. His father had been sent to a labor camp. His grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz. Antisemitism was on the rise. His mother fearing extinction, was forced to make a choice. She had no idea what was going to happen to her, so she left him alone with a stranger for 6 weeks so that he could survive.

Many people may believe that a child so young is not capable of remembering such events, but what some may not realize is how vital these early periods of development are for a child;  Baby Gabor had been ripped away from his mother, the one comfort he had ever known. He was surrounded by so much pain and chaos that his little mind could not grasp or process it. This temporary abandonment was enough to forever leave a mark on Gabor’s psyche. 

According to Dr. Maté, one does not need to have experienced an event such as the Holocaust, or war, or racism, to experience trauma. All it takes is a parent not attuned to the emotional needs of a child to traumatize them. Children need attachment. They need to feel the love and care of their parents. Otherwise, without this, they will have no way of regulating themselves in such an overwhelming and confusing environment.

The filmmakers, Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, use various techniques to get their message across. It opens up with a shot of a newborn child as it slowly transitions between older children and a wide range of adults, evoking feelings of sorrow and compassion as you realize what these people may have experienced. With a sad backtrack, the film pulls you into the minds of the traumatized. The filmmakers switch from head-on interviews to hand-drawn animations as dramatic sound effects play in the background to pull you into the shoes of the interviewee.

Throughout the film, Maté interviews a wide range of people with different backgrounds and struggles. One man, “Michael,” had what many would perceive to be a wonderful childhood. His upper-middle-class parents provided him with everything he wanted. Many people would envy such a childhood. However, his parents used this to avoid connecting with their child. He was alone. Instead of giving him the love and connection he so craved, his parents replaced that with material objects. According to Maté, “Children don’t get traumatized because of the hurt but because they’re alone with the hurt.” Maté uses a combination of compassionate inquiry a type of therapy he claims to have come up with and psychedelic drugs such as Ayahuasca to reconnect traumatized individuals with themselves so that they can work through their trauma to not only heal mentally but physically as well. Critics of his work argue that “the study of psychedelics and their possible use in treating mental health problems is in its absolute infancy” and argue that the film didn’t reveal that psychedelics “can do more harm than good” (“‘The Wisdom of Trauma’ a Film). The lack of clinical clarity and scholarly research could be the result of the format of the film. All films, documentaries included, make editorial decisions.

The film argues that pain and trauma are the root causes of addiction and believes they’re using drugs to avoid deeper pain. It shows how it is important to acknowledge someone on the street when they’re suffering alone. They feel looked down on by people passing by without acknowledging them, which has reinforced their sense of self and dignity as nonexistent. Homelessness needs to be humanized as these are people who’ve been beaten down. It makes sense they’d turn to drugs to escape that pain. Maté believes in inducing a state of love and gratitude by using a technique known as compassionate inquiry to help people see what is behind their addictive behaviors. 

This film was profoundly impactful. As I have suffered my own childhood traumas. So many people are suffering in ways that we cannot see. Society as a whole needs to be more empathetic toward individuals who are suffering. Maté’s work is very valuable and provides much-needed answers as to the source of many people’s suffering. However, this film has faced some criticism for its overgeneralization of the causes of addiction or disease and illness: “Maté is fundamentally proposing a reductionist vision of addiction, where abuse history and posited biochemical changes are now the essential causes of people’s self-destructive action” (Peele). While trauma is a key risk factor for all of these things, genetics and biology still play a very important role, and ignoring this to only focus on trauma can do more harm than good. Maté has good intentions, and his work speaks for itself. Overall this was a very solid film that I rate an 8.5/10.