For a man who demands his privacy, it was an extraordinary 90 minute public therapy session that took the soul away.
Prince Harry sat down with controversial ‘trauma therapist’ Gabor Maté for a £17 live chat last night and opened up his heart on topics ranging from his ‘positive’ experience with psychedelics to how his wife Meghan Markle’s except’.
Sitting in front of a roaring fire in his £12m home in Montecito, California, Harry at one point joked about how ‘great’ the free therapy session was and once again complained about how he felt ‘different’ of the rest of his life. family and now he bombards his own children with the love he feels he never received from his own father, King Charles.
His choice of inquisitor was controversial as Dr. Maté has been heavily criticized for advocating the use of psychedelic drugs, including the South American drug ayahuasca, which causes users to vomit.
The Duke of Sussex gleefully described taking the hallucinogen, saying it “changed me” and describing it as “cleaning the windshield” of his troubled mind. Harry, 38, also appeared to advocate for illegal drugs, at one point saying: “Marijuana really helped me.”
Prince Harry sat down with controversial ‘trauma therapist’ Gabor Maté for a £17 live chat last night and opened up his heart
His choice of inquisitor was controversial as Dr. Maté (pictured) has been heavily criticized for advocating the use of psychedelic drugs, including the South American drug ayahuasca, which causes users to vomit.
Sitting in front of a roaring fire in his £12 million home in Montecito, California, Harry at one point joked about how “great” the free therapy session was.
While ‘old’ Harry has been fading from sight for a long time, yesterday’s event, titled Living with Loss and Personal Healing, pushed that person into oblivion. Often slipping into Californian “therapy language,” the Prince spoke about his “broken home upbringing” and talked about his ongoing search to find his “true authentic self.”
In one of the most astounding moments, he opened up about his military service, saying he was a good candidate for the Army “because they recruit from broken homes.”
When Dr Maté said he disagreed with the war in Afghanistan, the Duke veered into politics saying many British soldiers “didn’t necessarily support” the military effort, saying: “Once you sign up, you do what you they tell you to do.”
“So a lot of us didn’t necessarily agree or disagree, but you were doing what you were trained to do, you were doing what you were sent to do.”
When asked if he ‘wallows’ in victimhood, Harry smiled and said: ‘I definitely don’t see myself as a victim.’
Many of the themes were familiar themes from the endless interviews he has given to promote his memoirs, a copy of which was included in last night’s price for the event. Reminiscing about his childhood, Harry called himself “a boy in a bubble” and said: “I’m still not clear if it was a bubble or multiple bubbles… My own self was distorted and perhaps because of my environment I was confined. in but also by society. What it does to you is almost like box[ing] you join.’ The topic then turned to her love of therapy with the duke saying, “When I found my therapist and started unpacking 12-year-old Harry around the time my mum died, it was terrifying.” I thought that when I went to therapy I would be cured and that I would lose what was left of my mother. [but] it was the opposite.
I turned what I thought was supposed to be sadness into trying to show her that I missed her by realizing that she really wanted me to be happy, and that took a huge weight off my chest. However, she said that while she was “learning a new language of therapy,” she discovered that “my family didn’t speak that language.” Delving into her use of ayahuasca, she said that it “brought me a feeling of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I was able to hold on to for a period of time.”
But he said: ‘The moment I return to chaos, it dissipates. I started doing it recreationally and then realized how good it was for me. I would say it was one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with past trauma and pain.’ He added that “the marijuana really helped me” but the cocaine “did nothing” except make him feel part of a group.
The Duke of Sussex gleefully described taking the hallucinogen, saying it “changed me” and describing it as “cleaning the windshield” of his troubled mind.
When asked if he ‘wallows’ in victimhood, Harry smiled and said: ‘I definitely don’t see myself as a victim.’
Speaking about fatherhood, he said he wanted to avoid the emotional distance that defined his relationship with his own father, recalling how Charles broke the news of Diana’s death to his son without hugging him.
She said that with her own children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, she was “trying to smother them with love”, adding: “I feel a great responsibility not to pass on any trauma or negative experience I’ve had.” like a child or like a growing man.’
He added that he and Meghan are trying to ‘break the pattern’ of divorce and childhood trauma, saying: ‘We do the best we can as parents, learning from our own past and overlaying those mistakes, maybe, and growing… break that cycle. When asked what is the most important thing in parenting, he said: ‘It has to be love. There have to be rules, but one thing my wife and I talk about is if they have a moment of frustration, let them have that and then talk about it.’
Of his relationship with Meghan he said: ‘People have said that my wife saved me. She was trapped in this world and she was from a different world and she helped me out of it.
‘But none of the elements of my life would have been possible without me seeing it for myself.
‘My partner is an exceptional human being and I am grateful for the space he has given me.’
Regarding his decision to step back from royal duties, he said: “Fear is a very controlling force… I didn’t know there was a choice and then I realized my situation, my environment and I was like ‘now there is a choice. ”.
“I realized that if I accept this change… I will inevitably be criticized a lot, but I can’t let fear keep me trapped in this environment because it’s not right for me, it’s not right for my wife or my children.” .