April 23rd 2023 : Listening To Shame

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston who has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy. She's the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness and Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.Brené hosts the Unlocking Us podcast, and her 2010 TED Talk, "The Power of Vulnerability" is one of the most viewed talks in the world. She is the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix; The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service in April 2019. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband Steve, but we are grateful that technology allows us to listen and consider the meaning in her talk.

1st & 2nd : Reading

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston who has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy. She's the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of ImperfectionDaring GreatlyRising StrongBraving the Wilderness and Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.

Brown hosts the Unlocking Us podcast, and her 2010 TED Talk, "The power of vulnerability," is one of the most viewed talks in the world. She is the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix; The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service in April 2019. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie.  

  1. Extract from Brené Brown’s ”On Vulnerability” TED Talk, 2010 

“…I'll leave you with this. This is what I have found: To let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen ... to love with our whole hearts, even though there's no guarantee -- and that's really hard, and I can tell you as a parent, that's excruciatingly difficult -- to practice gratitude and joy in those moments of terror, when we're wondering, "Can I love you this much? Can I believe in this this passionately? Can I be this fierce about this?" just to be able to stop and, instead of catastrophizing what might happen, to say, "I'm just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I'm alive." And the last, which I think is probably the most important, is to believe that we're enough. Because when we work from a place, I believe, that says, "I'm enough" ... then we stop screaming and start listening, we're kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we're kinder and gentler to ourselves.”

Gabor Maté CM (born January 6, 1944) is a Canadian physician, renowned speaker, and bestselling author who is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, trauma 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.

His most recent book “The Myth of Normal:Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture” is co-authored with his son Daniel is a New York Times bestseller.

  1. Excerpt from “When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress” by Gabor Maté

“Compassionate curiosity about the self does not mean liking everything we find out about ourselves, only that we look at ourselves with the same nonjudgmental acceptance we would wish to accord anyone else who suffered and who needed help.”

West Hill United