In one of the most quietly confronting moments from our recent 5-day film premiere gathering, Gabor Maté speaks with rare honesty about the pull of the victim mindset—and why it can feel safer than accountability.
He names how identifying as a victim can offer relief. It allows us to stay in the posture of the wounded child, protected from responsibility, protected from choice. In that place, nothing is asked of us except to be hurt. And yet, he gently points out, this refuge comes at a cost: it keeps us bound to the very patterns that limit our freedom.
Gabor reminds us that the moment we can see ourselves in a victim mindset—without judgment, without shame—we are already loosening its grip. Awareness itself becomes an act of liberation. Not by denying harm or bypassing grief, but by recognizing where our identification keeps us small, passive, or frozen.
In a world shaped by trauma, injustice, and inherited pain, his words land with quiet power:
taking responsibility is not self-blame—it is reclaiming agency.
And growing out of the child’s refuge does not mean abandoning tenderness;
it means choosing presence over paralysis.
This moment offered a doorway many of us felt in our bodies—a reminder that freedom often begins not with change, but with recognition.
✨ Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 5-day gathering.
You can still return to this conversation, the film, and all recordings by visiting our site.
#GaborMate #TraumaHealing #VictimMindset #AccountabilityAsFreedom
#CollectiveHealing #EmbodiedAwareness #FilmPremiere #SANDFilms #TES
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