Your Addiction Reveals Your Hidden Pain - Sat Dharam Kaur Decodes the Connection

Sat Dharam Kaur, co-founder of Compassionate Inquiry with Dr. Gabor Maté, spent years discovering something profound: each addiction points to a specific childhood trauma. Not random. Not a moral failing.

In this Mind Architect episode, Sat Dharam Kaur reveals how she decoded Gabor Maté's therapeutic approach into Compassionate Inquiry—a method now taught to trauma therapists worldwide. She shares the hidden connection between what we're addicted to and what we experienced as children, along with the healing path that addresses addiction at its root.

You'll discover why smoking addiction often traces back to loneliness, alcohol addiction to feeling unheard and work addiction to a core belief about worthiness. Sat Dharam Kaur explains the Compassionate Inquiry principles that allow healing without rescuing, the naturopathic protocols that rebalance brain chemistry and how Kundalini yoga activates the vagus nerve to support addiction recovery.

This isn't about willpower or 12 steps. It's about understanding the pain behind addiction and addressing it.

Her Beyond Addiction program integrates Compassionate Inquiry with 45 years of Kundalini yoga practice and naturopathic medicine. She's worked with Gabor Maté since 2009, transcribing hundreds of hours of his sessions to identify the patterns that make trauma healing possible.

Whether you're working with addiction recovery, supporting someone you love, practicing as a therapist, or trying to understand your own patterns—this conversation offers clarity on the trauma-addiction connection and a path forward.

BOOKS REFERENCED:

• In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Maté
• The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer

• The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Women's Health
• A Call to Women: A Healthy Breast Program and Workbook

PRACTICES & PROGRAMS:

• ⁠Compassionate Inquiry Training⁠
• Beyond Addiction Program (16 modules: CI + Kundalini Yoga + Naturopathic Medicine)
• Kundalini Yoga on ⁠Sat Dharam Kaur's YouTube channel⁠
• Compassionate Inquiry ⁠Romania⁠ → local training & community

THERAPY MODALITIES MENTIONED:

• Compassionate Inquiry (CI)
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• Somatic Experiencing (SE)
• Kundalini Yoga

THREE QUESTIONS FOR HEALING:

1. What needs were unmet in your childhood?
2. What emotion did you experience when that was happening?
3. What did you believe about yourself?

"(00:00:00) Intro"

"(00:04:56) The car accident, mom's alcoholism and aftermath"

"(00:09:12) From art and science to naturopathic medicine"

"(00:17:17) From reading the book to meeting Gabor"

"(00:21:09) Decoding Gabor's method by transcribing hundreds of hours"

"(00:22:41) Gabor: I don't know what I'm doing. It can't be taught"

"(00:23:56) First CI Workshop and teaching CI facilitators

"(00:26:59) Main principles of CI: compassion, client-led, present"

"(00:32:51) Don't be the teacher, rescuer, or fixer"

"(00:36:29) The best future self as a way to channel dopamine"

"(00:38:43) Working with the nervous system using the body"

"(00:41:06) Injured in relationship, heal in relationship"

"(00:43:46) Nutrition, the gut and addiction recovery"

"(00:48:06) Stabilizing blood sugar and adaptogens"

"(00:50:25) Liver detox"

"(00:51:51) Personal story: parents who won't change"

"(00:57:36) Do something (slightly) healthier together"

"(00:58:58) Speak from YOUR heart and validate the emotion"

"(01:07:51) Find what connects you"

"(01:10:05) Why specific traumas create specific addictions"

"(01:10:51) Smoking, marijuana, alcohol, heroin, meth, cocaine"

"(01:14:26) From unmet needs to emotions to unconscious beliefs"

"(01:17:19) Work addiction and the beliefs behind it"

"(01:20:06) Activities that relax the parasympathetic system"

"(01:25:28) Daily practices to reconnect with the body"

"(01:30:21) Cross-lateral movements to integrate hemispheres"

"(01:34:11) How Kundalini yoga aids addiction recovery"

"(01:39:11) To prevent addiction teach pregnant women yoga"

"(01:40:44) Universal law: Treat others as you'd like to be treated"