Dr. Gabor Mate recently joined me at the Firehall Arts Centre, in Vancouver, for Q & As after my monologue Medicine, in which I describe my experiences on a retreat he led, which involved ingesting the Peruvian shamanic psychotropic tea ayahuasca.
If you're in the Vancouver area, Dr. Mate will be doing more Q & As as the run continues until Feb 3 - check the Firehall Arts Centre's website for ticket details.
What follows are some excerpts from those Q & As.
From Jan 3, 2013
Here are the questions he addresses:
-How did you come to work with ayahuasca
-How are the retreats you lead different from other ayahuasca ceremonies people might be leading
-How does a person integrate what they've learned on ayahuasca into their regular life
-What if you don't believe in the plant having a spiritual consciousness
-Can you reach similar self-knowledge without ayahuasca
-How is the tea made
-Have studies shown that ayahuasca can treat alcoholism
-Is ayahuasca addictive
-How was ayahuasca used traditionally
-Does everyone need healing in some way
Jan 4
And here are that night's questions:
-Why is shame the deepest of the negative emotions
-What do you do if you encounter difficulties on ayahuasca
-How can you protect your kids from traumatic experiences
-Can ayahuasca be used to treat cancer
-Does being on anti-depressants mean you can't partake in ayahuasca
-Why are people becoming more open to exploring this kind of therapy
-What needs to happen for the powers that be to accept treatment of this kind
-Why is ayahuasca effective
This additional short clip is Gabor's response to seeing a show about the retreats he leads, and my inquiring about Gabor's process of psychological detective work.
