Distinguished Speaker Series: Revolution Through Relationship, with Dr. Robert Maunder

Our healthcare systems often go wrong when dealing with adults whose illness relates to childhood trauma. In this talk, Robert Maunder advocates for changes in healthcare that follow from recognizing that “health” is fundamentally something that happens between people. Drawing from stories of an intense and challenging therapeutic relationship with a severely ill patient, and of his sustaining collegial relationship and friendship with co-author, Dr. Jon Hunter, Dr. Maunder discusses the lifelong impact of childhood adversity, its often-overlooked impact on the relationships in which healthcare occurs, and the path towards both trauma-informed care and prevention.
About Robert Maunder
Robert Maunder is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He holds the Chair of Health and Behaviour at Sinai Health System. Clinically, he provides psychiatric care for people with chronic and serious medical illness. His research, in collaboration with Dr. Jon Hunter, focuses on how interpersonal relationships and psychological stress influence health, and on the impact of occupational stress on healthcare workers. He is the author of 3 books and over 100 papers and chapters describing this work, including his recent book with Jon Hunter - Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.
About FIFSW's Distinguished Speaker Series
FIFSW’s Distinguished Speakers Series, created by the Alumni Association in honour of the Faculty’s 100th anniversary in 2014, brings leading edge thinkers to the Faculty annually, in perpetuity, to explore avant-garde issues. By fostering debate and dialogue about crucial societal challenges, these lectures benefit students, alumni, researchers and the community.