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Reading lists

Books to help improve your focus and attention span

Image showing a selection of books about neurodiversity

Neurodiversity-books

Books about ADHD, autism, and neurodiversity

Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers

Hold on to Your Kids

Gabor Maté’s connections—between the intensely personal and the global, the spiritual and the medical, the psychological and the political—are bold, wise and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished

Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine

A visionary book that goes beyond the usual explanations to illuminate a crisis of unrecognized proportions. The authors show us how we are losing contact with our children and how this loss undermines their development and threatens the very fabric of society. Most importantly they offer, through concrete examples and clear suggestions, practical help for parents to fulfil their instinctual roles. A brilliant and well written book – one to be taken very seriously

Peter A. Levine Ph.D., International teacher and author of the bestselling books: Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma and It Won't Hurt Forever, Guiding Your Child through Trauma

Hold on to Your Kids brings us genuinely new ideas and fresh perspectives on parenting. The authors integrate psychology, anthropology, neurology and their own personal and professional experiences…. a worthy book with practical implications

Dr Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other

Maté’s book will make you examine your behaviour in a new light

Hold On to Your Kids is full of easy tips for avoiding calamity

Gabor Maté (Author) A celebrated speaker, and bestselling author, Dr Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them. 
 
Dr Maté has written several bestselling books including When the Body Says No, Scattered Minds and co-authored Hold on to Your Kids. His most recent book The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness &amp; Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times bestseller. Dr Maté's works have been published internationally in over twenty languages. 
 
Supporters of Dr Maté include Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Bessel van der Kolk, Johann Hari and Esther Perel. He was recently featured in the highly publicised livestream conversation with Prince Harry where they discussed loss, trauma and the importance of healing. Gordon Neufeld (Author) Gordon Neufeld PhD, is a Vancouver-based 
clinical psychologist, internationally renowned as a foremost authority on child development. His Neufeld Institute delivers many courses he has created for parents, educators, and helping professionals on several continents. He is recognized for his unique ability to unlock the clues to seemingly complex problems of child rearing and education.

&lsquo;Maté&rsquo;s book will make you examine your behaviour in a new light&rsquo; Guardian 
 
&lsquo;Bold, wise and deeply moral. [Maté] is a healer to be cherished&rsquo; Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine 
 
Children take their lead from their friends: being &lsquo;cool&rsquo; matters more than anything else. Shaping values, identity and codes of behaviour, peer groups are often far more influential than parents. 
 
But this situation is far from natural, and it can be dangerous &ndash; it undermines family cohesion, interferes with healthy development, and fosters a hostile and sexualized youth culture. Children end up becoming conformist, anxious and alienated. 
 
In Hold on to Your Kids, acclaimed physician and bestselling author Gabor Maté joins forces with Gordon Neufeld, a psychologist with a reputation for penetrating to the heart of complex parenting. Together they pinpoint the causes of this breakdown and offer practical advice on how to &lsquo;reattach&rsquo; to sons and daughters, establish the hierarchy at home, make children feel safe and understood, and earn back your children's loyalty and love. This updated edition also addresses the unprecedented parenting challenges posed by the rise of digital devices and social media. 
 
By helping to reawaken our instincts, Maté and Neufeld empower parents to be what nature intended: a true source of contact, security and warmth for their children.

The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder

Scattered Minds

Bestselling author and clinician Gabor Maté proposes a radical new theory on the ADD epidemic

Gabor Maté’s connections—between the intensely personal and the global, the spiritual and the medical, the psychological and the political—are bold, wise and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished and this exciting book arrives at just the right time

His medical background and lucid writing style make complex biological processes accessible to non-scientific readers.

Rare and refreshing. . . . Here you will find family stories, an accessible description of brain development and sound information. You will also find hope.

A celebrated speaker, and bestselling author, Dr Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them. 
 
Dr Maté has written several bestselling books including When the Body Says No, Scattered Minds and co-authored Hold on to Your Kids. His most recent book The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness &amp; Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times bestseller. Dr Maté's works have been published internationally in over twenty languages. 
 
Supporters of Dr Maté include Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Bessel van der Kolk, Johann Hari and Esther Perel. He was recently featured in the highly publicised livestream conversation with Prince Harry where they discussed loss, trauma and the importance of healing.

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder as genetically based – and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition. 
 
Gabor Maté is a revered physician who specializes in neurology, psychiatry and psychology – and himself has ADD. With wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds is a must-read for parents – and for anyone interested how experiences in infancy shape the biology and psychology of the human brain. 
 
Scattered Minds: 
- Demonstrates that ADD is not an inherited illness, but a reversible impairment and developmental delay 
- Explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy – and why 
- Shows how ‘distractibility’ is the psychological product of life experience 
- Allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain insights into their emotions and behaviours 
- Expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood 
- Presents a programme of how to promote this development in both children and adults

The Cost of Hidden Stress

When the Body Says No

How does stress influence chronic illness? Bestselling author Gabor Maté provides a riveting exploration of the mind-body connection.

Rare and refreshing. . . . Here you will find family stories, an accessible description of brain development and sound information. You will also find hope

His medical background and lucid writing style make complex biological processes accessible to non-scientific readers

An insightful read that makes you realise that without your health nothing really matters

Can a person literally die of loneliness? Is there a connection between the ability to express emotions and Alzheimer's disease? Is there such a thing as a 'cancer personality'? 
 
With compassion, warmth and empathy, Dr Gabor Maté draws on deep scientific research and his acclaimed clinical work to provide the answers to critical questions about the mind-body link - and illuminates the role that stress and our emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases. 
 
When the Body Says No: 
 
- Explores the role of the mind-body link in conditions and diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome and multiple sclerosis. 
- Shares dozens of enlightening case studies and personal and moving stories, including those of people such as Lou Gehrig (ALS), Betty Ford (breast cancer), Ronald Reagan (Alzheimer's), Gilda Radner (ovarian cancer) and Lance Armstrong (testicular cancer) 
- Reveals 'The Seven A's of Healing': principles in healing and the prevention of illness from hidden stress

Close Encounters with Addiction

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

A groundbreaking work on the root causes of addiction &ndash; and how to heal it &ndash; from the legendary Dr Gabor Maté

Gabor Maté is one of the most important, wise and compassionate voices in the world on addiction. Everyone should read this profound book

Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs

I recommend this wonderful book for anyone struggling with the heartache of addiction personally or professionally. Gabor Maté makes the thought-provoking and powerful arguments that human connections heal; and that the poverty of relationships in the modern world contribute to our vulnerability to unhealthy addictions of all manner. His uniquely humane perspective—all too absent from much of the ‘modern’ approach to addictions—should be a part of the training of all therapists, social workers, and physicians

Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, Child Trauma Academy Houston, and co-author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog

With unparalleled sympathy for the human condition, Gabor Maté depicts the suffocation of the spirit by addictive urges, and holds up a dark mirror to our society. This is a powerful narrative of the realm of human nature where confused and conflicted emotions underlie our pretensions to rational thought

Dr Jaak Panksepp, author of Affective Neuroscience

In its sheer force, originality and deep scholarship, this book represents a landmark in the theory, treatment and prevention of addictive disorders. No-one seriously interested in this subject can afford not to be aware of what it says about addiction and how we should respond to it

Nick Heather PhD, Northumbria University, UK

An insightful, multilayered discussion of the nature of addiction generally, and our society’s epidemic of addictions in particular

To heal addiction, you have to go back to the start&hellip; 
 
Dr Gabor Maté is one of the world&rsquo;s most revered thinkers on the psychology of addiction. His radical findings &ndash; based on decades of work with patients challenged by catastrophic drug addiction and mental illness &ndash; are reframing how we view all human development. 
 
In this award-winning modern classic, Gabor Maté takes a holistic and compassionate approach to addiction, whether to alcohol, drugs, sex, money or anything self-destructive. He presents it not as a discrete phenomenon confined to a weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs through (and even underpins) our society; not as a medical &lsquo;condition&rsquo;, but rather the result of a complex interplay of personal history, emotional development and brain chemistry. 
 
Distilling cutting-edge research from around the world, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Blending personal stories and science with positive solutions, and written in spellbinding prose, it is a must-read that will change how you see yourself, others and the world. 
 
10th anniversary edition, updated with new chapter on the Opioid crisis

Gabor Maté

Daniel Maté

Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being, and our social connectivity (in short: how we live), is intimately intertwined with health, disease and addictions ... This riveting and beautifully written tale has profound implications for all of our lives, including the practice of medicine and mental health

Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score

Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become

A book literally everyone will be enriched by - a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr Maté's many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom

An astonishing achievement, epic in scope and yet profoundly down-to-earth and practical. I will read this book again and again

V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Vagina Monologues

Brilliant, compelling and groundbreaking. Gabor Maté offers us a way to bring clear seeing and a greatness of heart to the crisis of our times

A book in which readers can seek refuge and solace during moments of profound personal and social crisis

Esther Perel, psychotherapist and author of Mating in Captivity

Gabor Maté's connections - between the intensely personal and the global, the spiritual and the medical, the psychological and the political - are bold, wise and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished

A compelling book that will challenge your views and help lift the veil of illusion to what is truly happening in your mind and in your body

Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness

Gripping ... a powerful call for change in how we live with, love, understand, treat, and think about each other

Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explaining Everything To Me

Illness, health & healing in a toxic culture

***THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** 
 
OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD 
 
We tend to believe that normality equals health. Yet what is the norm in the Western world? 
 
Mental illness and chronic disease are on an unstoppable rise. How did we get here? 
And what lies ahead for us? 
 
'It all starts with waking up... to what our bodies are expressing and our minds are suppressing.' 
 
In this life-affirming book, Gabor Maté connects the dots between our personal suffering and the relentless pressures of modern life &ndash; showing that ill health is a natural reflection of our disconnection from our true selves. Drawing on four decades of clinical experience, and stories of people transforming their bodies and minds, Dr Maté offers a hopeful pathway to reconnection and healing.

Gabor Maté

Praise for The Myth of Normal

Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being, and our social connectivity (in short: how we live), is intimately intertwined with health, disease and addictions ... This riv ...

Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become

A book literally everyone will be enriched by - a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr Maté's many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom

Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being, and our social connectivity (in short: how we live), is intimately intertwined with health, disease and addictions ... This riv ...

Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become

A book literally everyone will be enriched by - a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr Maté's many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom

Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being, and our social connectivity (in short: how we live), is intimately intertwined with health, disease and addictions ... This riv ...

Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become

A book literally everyone will be enriched by - a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr Maté's many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom

Books by Gabor Maté

Articles featuring Gabor Maté

Books to help improve your focus and attention span

Books about ADHD, autism, and neurodiversity

Videos

Is addiction a choice? | Big Questions with Gabor Maté

In the press

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