Daniel mackler biography
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Today’s post is a little different: it’s an interview with author Daniel Mackler about his new book “Breaking From Your Parents“.
I wanted to share this interview with Daniel as he is tackling a subject that, in my opinion, is one of the last real taboos of our society: choosing to disengage from family relationships. This is a topic that is meaningful to me because it’s something I’ve dealt with myself (in 2007, I made the decision to break from my own parents). I’m aware this isn’t something that is widely acceptable to talk about in our culture (or many others), so I welcome respectful discussion in the comments.
Hi Daniel! Would you mind telling us a little about yourself and your background?
Hmm, about me… Well, right now I best identify myself as a world traveler, though I make my living as a filmmaker—mental health documentaries about recovery from psychosis without medication. Before this I was a therapist in New York fo
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Wild Truth
I have been both fortunate and unfortunate in my life — in my family of origin and my culture. I grew up in an educated, middle class, American family — full of books, family time, toys, healthy food, and a stable bedtime — to a mother who was often unhappy, often perverse, and alcoholic, and a father who was desperate for external approval, occasionally cruel, and often neglectful of me. Both my parents were quite wounded from their own childhoods — and acted out their unresolved issues on me abusively.
Yet at the same time both provided well for me in other ways — better than their own parents had for them. This contributed to my growth, which paradoxically provided me the strength to be able to break away from them. Although breaking away has come at great personal sacrifice, it has been vital for my development as a human being and my connection with my true self.
My inspiration
My basic inspiration comes from looking with
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Wild Truth
My name is Daniel Mackler and I am a musician, filmmaker, Youtuber, and writer based in New York. I also worked for ten years as a psychotherapist in New York, though inom ended my therapy practice in 2010. My creative work focuses on the destruction of our natural environment and the causes, consequences, and significance of childhood trauma. I see childhood trauma as ranging from the extreme, which is common, to the mild, which is so much more common that few even notice it at all, much less call it by its proper name. I view the norm in our culture as being highly traumatized and I view the average, and even above-average, childhood as being extremely traumatic – and the average parent as lacking both awareness of this and deep empathy for the child.
I see our world growing more pathological, confused, polluted, overpopulated, and disturbed by the day – and inom feel that to stand by and say ingenting while we destroy our planet fryst vatten, at the least, irresponsible. Yet