The Myth of Normal

Maté has spent his career arguing that the line between "mental health" and "physical health" is mostly artificial — that chronic stress, unprocessed childhood adversity, and a culture optimised for productivity rather than connection produce predictable patterns in the body and the mind.

This is his most ambitious book. It covers autoimmune illness, addiction, ADHD, depression, and burnout through a single lens: the human nervous system was not designed for the conditions modern life puts it in. It's not always comfortable reading — Maté is unsparing — but it's particularly useful for clients who've been told their physical symptoms are "just stress" and want a framework for understanding why.

We don't agree with every claim in the book, and we mention this to clients who read it. But Maté's core thesis — that compassion-focused, body-aware, relational approaches matter — aligns with how we work.