Welcome back to Man;Kind or welcome for the first time if your new around here!

My guest on this episode is Michael Sanford. If you see a picture of Michael you might be tempted to place him in a particular box in your mind — he rides horses, lives in a rural setting and pretty much looks like a cowboy. If you’re anything like me, your first thought wouldn’t be that Michael is a specialist domestic violence counsellor, who uses a range of alternative therapies to help children and young people work through their trauma.

Which is kind of the whole point, isn’t it? We put people in boxes really quickly and we make assumptions constantly without consciously thinking about it. One of the key ideas Michael talks about in our chat is that of a blueprint — and the need for some of us to create a new blueprint when the one we were given isn’t actually that helpful.

Michael has such value to add to this conversation because he brings both a very powerful personal story as well as many years of professional practice supporting others to rewrite their own. By the end of this conversation I had such respect and appreciation for Michael, and I’m sure you will too.

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Man;Kind podcast is presented by the Central Coast Council and developed by Lead by Story.

All music by the super talented Josh Corkill.