Film synopsis

One in five Americans are diagnosed with mental illness in any given year. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in the US for youth aged 15-24. It kills over 800,000 people a year globally and 48,300 in the USA. Drug overdose kills 81,000 in the USA annually. The
autoimmunity epidemic affects 24 million people in the USA.

The film makers are asking the question “What is going on?”

The interconnected epidemics of anxiety, chronic illness and substance abuse are, according to Dr. Gabor Maté, normal. But not in the way you might think.

In The Wisdom of Trauma, we travel alongside physician, bestselling author and Order of Canada recipient Dr. Gabor Maté to explore why Western society is facing such epidemics. This is a journey with a man who has dedicated his life to understanding the connection between illness, addiction, trauma and society.

Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds. Dr. Maté gives us a new vision: a trauma-informed society in which parents, teachers, physicians, policy-makers and legal personnel are not concerned with fixing behaviours, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviours and diseases spring in the wounded human soul. He points us to the path of individual and collective healing.

Directors Statement

When we started this film, we thought that we were among the lucky ones who had had a happy childhood. We thought that trauma was caused by bad things happening to people; REALLY bad things: war, murder, violence, sexual exploitation… But trauma, as we learned from Dr. Gabor Maté, happens to everybody. Individually and collectively we carry a backlog of pain that has never been heard because we miss narratives to help us share, witness and hold space for each other’s deepest wounds. We hold the vision of a society that can acknowledge the truth about shame and the pain of unmet needs that live quietly but widely among us. Trauma cannot always be conquered, fixed, or resolved, but it can be heard, held and loved.

Imagine a trauma-informed world. Imagine your own family and community. Might the teachers act differently in your schools? How about the doctors seeking to help you heal? The judges responsible for deciding sentences? The policy makers who define our collective structures and the leaders we appoint to represent our voice? We hold the vision of a world that breaks free of cycles of trauma and becomes more open and inclusive. It all starts with us, truly. It starts when we allow our wounds to teach us about listening, self-love and compassion and to remind us of the preciousness of life. Then truth opens our hearts and our innate wisdom begins to shine through our wounds.

Join us the week of June 8–14, 2021 for the world premiere, which will be accompanied by daily conversations between Dr. Gabor Maté and leading experts in the field of trauma