Daniel Maté is a composer, lyricist, playwright for musical theatre based in BC and New York, and co-author of the book “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture” with his father Dr. Gabor Maté. We talk about the colorful and complicated relationship between children and parents in this special in-person interview with Daniel.

00:00:00 00:02:46 Daniel’s Writing Process with His Father, Dr. Gabor Maté
00:11:38 The Unique Relationship Between Parents and Children
00:24:46 Playing the Blame Game and Loving People Where They Are At
00:32:56 Establishing Boundaries
00:36:23 The Millennial Generation Parenting
00:39:44 Happy Medium Between Gentle Parenting VS Abusive Parenting
00:49:34 Teaching Children Emotions
00:54:53 True Authenticity While Functioning in Society
01:00:43 Respecting the Journey of Healing
01:04:29 Different Modalities of Healing, Meditation, and Herbal Remedies
01:25:01 The Public and Private Lives of Daniel and Dr. Gabor
01:34:07 Where to Find Daniel
01:38:32 Superchats

The Unique Relationship Between Parents and Children

If you take the relationship and put it in an ideal vacuum, it’s a weird and unique relationship. Parents are fully-grown adults capable of making choices and has had a range of experiences, while children are a non-thing coming into the world who didn’t make the choice to be here. Secondly, children don’t get to choose their parents and vice versa. Cosmically, karmically, it could be. However, children don’t usually turn out as their parents expect, but parents also turn out differently than how kids “expect” them to be. Even though children don’t have cognitive expectations, we are all born into the world as an expectation for a certain kind of environment: an unstressed, fully emotionally-attuned, emotionally available, and communitarian environment. Another unique thing is that the parent and child didn’t only just procreate and create the other, but they conditioned each other. Third, there is a power and responsibility dynamic. Parents have every responsibility to keep their child alive and shield them from dangers, while children have none just as nature intended giving space for the child to grow into their own power in a loving home.

Links and Resources:

Official Website

Walk with Daniel: A Mental Chiropractic Service

Let’s Get Lyrical With Carice & Daniel

Instagram: @cariceanddanielgetlyrical

Daniel’s Instagram

Meta-Description

Musical theatre composer-lyricist Daniel Mate talks about writing “The Myth of Normal” with his father Gabor Mate, modern-day parenting, and the different modalities of healing.

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