Michael De Haan
Missy's Second Chance: How a Rescue Dog Taught Me to Love Again
Michael learned to live again by showing up for a traumatised rescue dog, and in doing so, learned to love himself.
Hear this story
Kintsugi Studio
Michael De Haan
Michael learned to live again by showing up for a traumatised rescue dog, and in doing so, learned to love himself.
Hear this story
Michael De Haan was 16 when his twin sister Jenny told him she had been sexually abused by their father. What followed was decades of silence, panic attacks, chronic depression, and a darkness so complete he couldn't stay still. He walked the streets at night so people wouldn't see him. He was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and found it a relief, a socially acceptable way out. Then he met a woman who studied psychology and didn't give up on him. She showed him that small things, the ones that bring joy, matter more than he understood. She showed him he wasn't broken.
About 10 years ago, Michael and his wife adopted Missy, a Staffy Shar-Pei rescue dog who had been on death row twice and was raised to fight. When a dog behaviorist came to help, he said something that shifted everything: he wasn't there to talk about the dog, but about Michael. Missy needed love, trust, and to feel safe.
In caring for Missy, Michael found the chance to do what he couldn't do for Jenny: to show up, to be strong, to set boundaries that create safety. He learned that he couldn't give love to the dog unless he was willing to love himself first. Missy taught him to meet animals where they actually are, not where he thought they should be. Most of all, she showed him what unconditional love looks like. Today, Michael works as a financial abuse specialist, helping women escape coercive control. He has authored a book on financial abuse. His final message is simple: depression lives in the past. Healing happens when you move into the present moment.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses suicide & self-harm prevention, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au
“You have to love yourself more. You can't give love in my view unless you do love yourself. So my heart was starting to fill more.”
“I was living but not living. I was in a vortex. I couldn't die because I knew what devastation that meant. But I couldn't live either.”
“Depression means that you're living in the past. Now I've got a consciousness going, that's not where that's a story. That's just what happened to me, and it's over.”
The hero, today
Michael saw in Missy a second chance to do what he couldn't do for his sister Jenny: to show up, to be strong, to set boundaries that create safety, and to offer unconditional love to someone wounded. Adopting Missy required Michael to learn patience and to love himself more, because he couldn't give love to the dog unless he was willing to love himself first. Michael's wife showed him that small things, the ones that bring joy, matter more than he understood, and that he was not broken and that healing was possible. Michael learned from Missy that animals need to be met where they are, not forced into what we think they should be, and that working together with acceptance allows both to grow. Michael moved from living in depression (which kept him in the past) to living more in the present moment, where he could see his trauma as a story that happened to him rather than as a life sentence.
Yes. Michael De Haan is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Michael saw in Missy a second chance to do what he couldn't do for his sister Jenny: to show up, to be strong, to set boundaries that create safety, and to offer unconditional love to someone wounded.
Adopting Missy required Michael to learn patience and to love himself more, because he couldn't give love to the dog unless he was willing to love himself first.
Michael's wife showed him that small things, the ones that bring joy, matter more than he understood, and that he was not broken and that healing was possible.
Michael learned from Missy that animals need to be met where they are, not forced into what we think they should be, and that working together with acceptance allows both to grow.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 00:01
Welcome to another episode of Animals and Us, where we explore and honor the awesomeness of animals and our relationships with them. Today we're talking with Michael DeHaan, a financial wellness coach and author who has an inspiring personal story about finding hope through his rescue dog Missy. Michael's journey shows how adopting a dog can change two lives at once— the humans and the animals. And why animals can play such a powerful role in our mental health and healing. Hello Michael, and welcome to Animals and Us.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 00:42
Thank you for having me, Natalie. I'm looking forward to it.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 00:45
Oh, my absolute pleasure. Michael, can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do professionally?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 00:52
Yeah, so I left school age 15, joined the bank, Worked there for 20 years. Then I got into financial planning thinking that I could help people, um, around freedom, financial freedom choices in life. And what I found was that clients were coming in and they'd have money to invest and they wanted to retire comfortably in 20 years' time. And so I was good at that, or they wanted insurances in case something happened to them, but I didn't feel as if I was impacting their life. Right, how they live their life day by day, yeah, what are their sort of behaviors around money, behaviors in their, even in their relationship. Mhm. So I went down the, the pathway of a behavioral finance, behavioral money coach, and that's really about looking at their conditioning, how they brought up around money, right, what are their beliefs, what are their behaviors. And what I found was that there's a lot of people that had the stories through their programs— money's not good, you know, money's evil, money doesn't grow on trees, anyone that's got money they're scrupulous. And I found that even people earning good money, they would lose it, it would just evaporate. Part of their programming. So that, in a sense, I call— yeah, exactly. So, so really working with their programs, how they brought up Really shifting those and, and then start building what an ideal life looks like, what brings them to joy, and getting them to start visualizing that and having an emotion around that. So closing their eyes and picturing in 5 years or 10 years' time, what does that look like? And once they embody that, yeah, they feel it, then we can create a pathway for them to build a new life. Yes, build their life by design, which is which is amazing. And 90% of my clients are women. And so what I was finding was that a lot of women were in abusive relationships, and there's a lot of, uh, financial abuse, a lot of financial control, coercive control, yeah, around money. They'd lost their independence, okay, they lost their safety, really.
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This conversation includes a financial coach who works with women in crisis, his sister tells him what their father did, jenny's death at 18, living but not living, prostate cancer as an exit route and a woman who didn't give up on him.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 03:04
Yeah.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 03:04
So started doing a lot of work around financial abuse. I became a financial abuse specialist And I was the Australian ambassador for Financial Abuse Now, which is great. And I'm authoring a book on financial abuse, shining a light on— it's an insidious issue in Australia.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 03:24
Michael, what's your book called?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 03:26
It's called Financial Abuse. So I thought, let's just go straight to the point.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 03:31
Yes, yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 03:32
It's very much around because it's, it's, it's still not misunderstood. Natalie, in regard to what financial abuse actually is. And you might have a relationship where, you know, you get an allowance and you think that, you know, I saw my mother have an allowance, there's nothing wrong with that. But really need to start digging deeper around what financial abuse is, shine that light on it. It is a form of domestic violence. And really the biggest issue that I have is that in regard to safety and in particular women is that financial abuse victims, 90% that suffer financial abuse also suffer other forms of domestic violence. So we're talking about, you know, violence. We're even talking about women being killed.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 04:19
And what led you to that interest in, in helping women who are victims of abuse?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 04:27
Yeah, and it goes back to my background, um, I don't know, I can't remember a lot about growing up. I know I was always outside playing sports and doing whatever, but I remember something that happened to me when I was 16, and that's what really changed my life. It's— I was in my bedroom just sitting down, and my twin sister came in the room. She was nervous. Her voice was quivering and she said, "I've got something to share with you." I knew whatever she was going to share that day was going to change our lives forever.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 05:05
Right.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 05:07
And she shared that she had been sexually abused by our dad when she was 13.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 05:11
Right. And were you— was that a shock to you at the time?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 05:15
It was very much a shock, yes. Yeah, I didn't see any— I think Dad, we were scared of Dad. He had a few mental issues. He had a bad temper. So we were certainly scared of him, but I didn't know to what level. Yeah, how awful.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 05:33
How awful. It was shocking.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 05:35
It was shocking. And the pathway on her journey to try and get over this as a young woman— she was 16— she did go down the path of alcohol and drugs too. Numb the pain. Um, but she tried to take her life on a few occasions, and that really— then you look at the, the systems, and she was sort of ignored, misunderstood. She was punished for her pain.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 06:06
So she didn't get the support that she needed and deserved?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 06:09
Yeah, they, they called her unstable instead of a wounded young woman. Needed safety, that needed help. So she tried to survive, she tried her best, um, but she was— ended up taking her life when she was 18.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 06:25
Wow.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 06:26
So we lost her. So that sexual abuse, young woman not heard, yeah, not feeling supported, um, really, I suppose, led me now to where I am. And we're talking many years Yes, yeah, Natalie. But, um, my pathway from there until I suppose seen a light in myself about 5 years ago— I— we didn't talk about what happened as a family.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 06:56
Um, you didn't talk about happen— what happened?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 06:59
No, right. I didn't talk about it at all. And I went through a stage there where, gosh, I was living but not living. I was, I was in a vortex. I couldn't, I couldn't die because I knew what devastation that meant, you know, two young children. But I couldn't live either.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 07:23
Oh my gosh, it's— so you had children of your own by this stage?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 07:28
Yes. Yeah, and that's started with panic attacks. So my my body was failing me. My mind was failing me. My body was failing me. I had anxiety. I had chronic depression, right? And I— it was just such a dark space where all I could say is, 'I'm good,' but you didn't feel good. No, I was screaming, right, on the inside. And, and I, I found that the, the more that I went down that dark pathway, the less love I had to give, less love for myself even. So that affected my relationship with my wife at the time. We were married for 22 years, so we ended up divorcing, right, at that stage there. But just before we divorced, I was diagnosed with a fairly aggressive prostate cancer. That was my Wow. Saying that you're not this, you know, you're not healing. I need healing.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 08:29
Yeah, yeah. And when we are highly distressed, our immune system is largely shut down, isn't it?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 08:35
Yeah. The scary thing, Natalie, was that I found that diagnosis a blessing, that I had an excuse to leave this world with a disease that is acceptable, right? It would feel sorry for me, but off I'd go, and, and so be it. So I would lose a lot of the pain, the darkness, the sadness that was sitting in my body. So it was really interesting when people talk about that you handled your cancer so well. I'm going, well, I had no fear with it, right?
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 09:11
Yeah, you just weren't afraid of dying.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 09:13
No, it didn't. And I did survive, as, as we're here today, and But that really started a glimmer of light in regard to what is my journey. I wasn't meant to go. Yeah. So moving from that, um, as I said, just starting to rebuild my life. You know, I lost that sort of connection to a certain degree with my kids. I was divorced from my wife.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 09:41
Yeah. Um, diagnosed with cancer. That was— must have been a very dark difficult time.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 09:48
Yeah, and I'd walk the streets at night. I didn't want people to see me. I couldn't go in the unit. I was in a small unit at the time. I, I could stay in there for about 20 minutes, half an hour at a time, and had to walk back out and come back in. So it was a, it was a really, really dark time. Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 10:07
Why is that, Michael? Why did you need to leave and enter, re-enter again?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 10:13
I think I just couldn't sit right.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 10:15
Just anxiety?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 10:17
Yeah, I couldn't be still.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 10:19
Ah, gosh. So you're in this very deep, dark abyss. How, how did you recover from that point?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 10:30
It was interesting. I met this wonderful woman about 11 years ago, and we'll talk about our dog soon, which I we adopted 10 years ago. So was that the time that she saw something in me? This, this woman, she saw an essence, and she said, I'm not giving up on you. So she became my wife, but it was, um, it was a time when I had more light in my body. She'd studied psychology, and she was so supportive, and going through that dark period, we would— she'd be really helpful around, you know, small things, things that you can do that bring you joy. I didn't— I didn't understand what joy meant.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 11:18
Wow.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 11:20
Yeah, yeah. So slowly going down a pathway of, of bringing back myself. I, I certainly had a path there that it wasn't a life sentence. I wasn't broken. That, that was my messages to myself, and yes, I started healing. Wow.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 11:41
So healing through the support of someone else, of your, of your, your, uh, friend, and, and re-experiencing joy. You just gradually started recovering.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 11:54
And then we, we adopted Missy, which is our rescue dog, and that was about 10 years ago. She was a Staffy Shar-Pei She had been on death row twice. They tried to house her once. We went to this place to pick her up and there was 6 dogs that were on death row and they were vicious. They were angry, they were scared.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:14
Traumatised, poor things.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 12:16
And then we saw Missy and Missy was a happy beacon of a dog there. We took her out, threw the ball, she played with the ball, brought it back and she was seems so happy. And we said, like, we get the opportunity as a, another female, 32 years later.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:37
Wow.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 12:38
That not to judge her for being unstable. Mm.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:43
Oh yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 12:44
No, to, to give back. She's, she was wounded.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:46
Yes, yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 12:47
She just needed love.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 12:49
Yeah. Understanding.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 12:51
But when we, we, we got to be— we drive to a park and we said, this is going to be so much fun. We had her on a lead and then she saw a dog and she just wanted to get the dog, right? She was very aggressive and we sat back in the car and we said, oh, what have we done? You know, do we— are we able to bring up this dog? Are we able to provide what, what she needs? We had a lot of self-doubt.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 13:18
Yes. Did you know a lot of much about her background at that stage?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 13:22
We only know that she was brought up to fight, right? She's a bigger dog because she had the Staffy, which is strong, but she had the Shar-Pei, which is bigger, and they're both very strong dogs. So, um, whether she was a good fighter or not, Natalie, I don't know. So I can't answer that. But we got the help from a, um, from a dog behaviorist, which made such a difference to us. Guided us. And he came into our house, Missy was there, and he sat with us. And I said, the dog's over there. And he said, I'm not here to talk about the dog, I'm here to talk to you. This, you know, this is what Missy would need from you, right? And, um, it was amazing, Natalie, that actually understand that this dog just needed love, needed trust, and it needed to feel safe. Yes, that's all she wanted, just as we humans need as well. Exactly. Yeah. And we looked at each other and we, we made a commitment there and then that we were going to provide that for Missy for the rest of her life. I mean, it was a journey. You know, and she can't do some things that other dogs can do. She can't go to a dog park, she can't run on the beach off lead, right? So there's some things there that she would never be able to do. But, um, she's got a few buddies that play rough with her as well, so she's got— that's good at home. And she loves a walk, loves humans, adores humans, right?
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:00
Wow, despite her past.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 15:03
Yes. Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:04
How old was she when you— when, when when she was adopted?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 15:08
3 or 4, right? 3 to 4 years, yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:12
And how old is she now?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 15:14
So she's 13, right? Maybe a bit out, but yeah, we made up a birthday, but we— right, so we, we celebrate.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:22
And is she well? Is she physically well?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 15:24
She is, yeah. She's 13 or 14. She thinks she's about 4 or 5. Yep, wonderful. And we adopted 2, um, kittens, so Missy's had us all to herself for many, many years, right? These two robust kittens, two brothers, are they res—
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 15:44
were they rescued kittens as well?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 15:46
Yeah, wonderful. Yeah, they came in and Missy initially didn't know what was going on, wasn't happy. And we've, we've certainly done it slowly because Missy can have that flight or fight, right? So we're doing it very slowly, but the cats now chase Missy's tail they jump on her. So it's really, you know, seeing that family come together with their— well, they've all got different paths.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 16:14
Yeah, yeah.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 16:15
Coming together with— our house is full of safety, the house is full of love.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 16:20
And yes, so the three of them get along well?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 16:24
Yes, we still got a little bit of work to do, Natalie. If one of the cats will scamper off, then Missy's going, okay, it's on, right? So we took a little bit of work there, but We understand that, right?
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 16:36
But Michael, can you describe how Missy played an important role in, in your recovery?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 16:43
And it was— I, I think I go back to how Jenny was unsupported. I go back to how she was treated as a young woman, and it was really having the opportunity to change Missy's life and really show up, like, be strong. Yes, be safe, you know, set boundaries for her that she feels safe.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 17:11
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 17:12
And she's— I've had dogs all my life, but she's, she's a real pack animal, right? And she just— she's got unconditional love, which all dogs do, I believe. And to provide that confidence. You have to love yourself more. You can't give love in my view unless you, you do love yourself. So we— my heart was starting to fill more.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 17:35
Yeah, you had a purpose.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 17:37
Had a purpose. Yeah. And, and Missy coming into our life, we, we— my wife and I reflect on it often about how she changed our life, how, you know, we, we didn't really understand some of the stuff that was going on in our own body, but We became, you know, patients. We were very patient, right? And some lessons that Missy's taught us along the way has changed our lives. Wow.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 18:05
So she's really helped your, your own character development. You sounded like you stepped up to be just what Missy needed.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 18:15
Yeah, and I always had it in me, Natalie.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 18:18
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 18:19
So it was, it was really going in there and into such dark places and finding light.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 18:25
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 18:26
Yeah. Which is empowering. So Missy provided that.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 18:30
Yes. Yeah. What— how wonderful. Are there any lessons that— it sounds like there are any lessons that Missy has taught you about resilience?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 18:41
I think Missy wears a heart on her sleeve. She'll go out there, she'll be naughty on lead. She is who she is. She's worked a lot around that. Um, she's more accepting of dogs, but if a dog wants to challenge her, she's happy to go, go at the other dog. So yeah, but she, she goes out every day. She says, this is who I am. I'm trying, Dad. Yeah, I'm trying, Dad, to improve my behavior. And sometimes I can get it, you know, into that sort of space. Um, every day it's that resilience. It's, um, and when we get home, there's just so much joy, so much love.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 19:22
Yeah. And it sounds like it's her authenticity that is— was very appealing to you. Her authenticity.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 19:33
Very much so. Yeah. And we, we get messy-minded a lot. We, we still have our own life where, you know, we'll go overseas or whatever, and we'll get people in there, and they'll come to us and start talking to us. I said, we're not really part of this. It's, it's, it's Missy, and you either see the bond or not. Missy's very big on bonding, right? So she makes the decision, right?
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 20:00
Now, I know Missy's in the room with you now. She's still asleep. We won't, we won't disturb her if she's asleep. She's still asleep. Sure, she awake now. Meet her.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 20:12
Hello, talking.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 20:15
We've been talking about you.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 20:18
She's listening intently.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 20:20
We can just see that her head— hello, there she is. Hello, you beautiful girl, special girl. Michael, what has your relationship with Missy taught you about animals in general?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 20:39
I think I've got a better understanding of animals. I thought I had a good understanding until I met Missy, and, and really meeting them where they're at. So not saying you've got to be this or you got to be that. Yeah, really working where they're at, and then we, we can move together. We can go on that journey together, both learning. So I think we, we might get an animal and say, well, this is what I want you to be. It doesn't work like that.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 21:11
Yes. Yeah. For those in the audience who might be considering rescuing a dog or, or a cat, what advice would you give them?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 21:23
The advice I'd give is that think carefully. Yeah, it was a bigger move than we thought. It's been one of the most rewarding things we've ever done. Yeah, it, it took work, and it, it really took a strong commitment and a strong love to, to make that happen. And when you see Missy playing with some— she's only got a few buddies, but when she plays with them, and she plays a bit rough, um, We just sit there and it just brings us so much joy that she can actually even do that.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 21:55
Yes, yeah, so much joy. And it's a long commitment too, isn't it? It's not just for a week or a month or a year, it's at least a 15-year commitment, isn't it?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 22:07
That's right, yeah, yeah, it is, it is a long time. And, and yeah, we, we hope she lives to whatever age she she wants to live, you know, that's her life. I've certainly learnt in life, Natalie, that everyone's got their own journey.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 22:25
Yes. Yeah. Michael, you've identified meeting your partner as one of your main resources or tools for recovery.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 22:36
Yeah.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 22:36
And as well as Missy, are there any other resources, either internal or external resources, that you attribute to your recovery from your depression and from, from your, your alcohol.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 22:50
And I, I never talked about my past, and I was encouraged by my wife to talk about it. I talk about it in podcasts, I talk about it when I'm in an Uber, and in particular there's a woman driver and she'll start sharing her story. I I talk about it a lot, and it's, it's freeing.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 23:13
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 23:14
Yes. I have gone down the path of psychology to support me and, and best practices, um, but really just having that intention that I'm not broken.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 23:26
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 23:26
It wasn't a life sentence. And saying that I, I've got so much more to do before I leave this life, and, and that is around the legacy around financial abuse, domestic violence. There's so much work to do, but it's, it's very purpose-driven.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 23:45
Yeah, wonderful. It must be so satisfying, I imagine, helping your clients through, through the other side of that financial abuse.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 23:55
I started a series, um, supporting women, um, And I was going to interview 6 women. It was a women's empowerment series. I was going to interview 6 women, and then I ended up interviewing just under 30. And I had women globally reaching out to me to share their stories. So these are empowered women, um, but they shared the story around their societal conditioning. They shared a story— stories around how even women would treat them in regard to you know, the expectation is you should— you're a mum, you know, if you're successful, you're not looking after your kids and whatnot. They even shared stories around domestic violence. But through that pathway, how they use their voice and visibility to make change, and I've shared that to many, many women. And that's, that's the, the legacy, that's the storytelling that we need to share.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 24:52
Oh, absolutely. Yes, that's, that's why I, I love Kintsugi Heroes, because it is about— it's a— it is a platform that shares empowering, inspiring individual stories that not only help the storyteller but also the, the audience.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 25:07
Yeah, so a lot of that's been self-healing. I'm authoring a book on financial abuse, um, yeah, and there's some legacies to Jenny, my twin sister, in there, and some women that have supported me in my life and All this is healing. It's, it's writing, it's talking, it's, it's now purpose-driven on what our future looks like.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 25:31
Yeah, wonderful. Michael, why do you think that animals have such a— can have such a profound effect on our mental well-being?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 25:41
And it's, it's, it's that unconditional love Natalie. Yeah, it's as simple as that. As they— if you don't love yourself, they still love you. Yes, they can teach you love.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 25:59
Yes, you don't have to be perfect.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 26:01
You don't need to be perfect, you know. And you can be angry, or even if you're down, people will come up and, and give a nudge there. They, they've got that sense of you know, how you're feeling, what's going on inside. It's, it's amazing.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 26:19
Yes, yes. Is there, Michael, is there one last message that you would like to leave the audience about animals or dogs?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 26:30
Yeah, I'd say that, I mean, the dogs have been an amazing journey for me personally. It's uplifting. Um, I think it makes a major difference to how you see life. It changes perspective. Yes, it changes. It makes you look internal, internally.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 26:51
Yes.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 26:51
And it allows you to step up. So it's, it's just an amazing opportunity to have a, have a, an animal that has that self, that unconditional love and Yes, go on that journey with it.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 27:06
Yes, they really are awesome, aren't they?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 27:10
They are. Yes.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 27:11
And Michael, what one final message would you like to leave, or, or advice about mental health and, and overcoming anxiety, depression?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 27:21
Yeah, so in my view, depression means that you're living in the past. Mhm. And that was in my mind, it was in my body. And living in the past doesn't serve me, it doesn't serve the people I want to help, doesn't serve the people I love. Yes. So being able to move away from the past— and I still can go back in the past, had a little bit— but now I've got a consciousness going, that's not where— that's a story. That's just what happened to me, and it's over. All that trauma, it doesn't serve anyone. So living more in the moment, which it's been more present. Yeah, it's a, it's a lot better place.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 28:04
Yes, yes. And finally, one, one last question, Michael. How can our audience find you and, and contact you if they'd like to know more about your, your book and more about your, your service of financial mindset coaching?
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 28:22
Yeah, so I, I can share with you a link for the book if, if, if that's fine with you. Um, yeah, it is pre-edited, so there's an opportunity now, um, to purchase that. But also my, um, email address— I'm quite happy to have conversations. Um, so that's Michael, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, at Quantum Leap Global, Q-U-A-N-T-U-M leap-global— sorry— .com. So there's two ways that people can get in contact with me. And I, I think the book going to launch in September, October. It's, um, it's going to change people's lives.
Natalie Stockdale (Host) · 29:05
Fantastic. Thank you. I look really look forward to reading that. So people can find you at quantumleap-global.com and Michael at quantumleap-global Right, wonderful. Michael, it really has been a pleasure, and I hope your book goes very well, and, and, you know, I hope your future client— your work with your future clients continues to go well.
Michael De Haan (Guest) · 29:31
Thank you, Natalie, appreciate that. Thank you for spending time with me. Oh, my pleasure. Animals and Us is a production of Kintsugi Heroes. Thank you to Xavier Rudd for his permission to use Follow the Sun as our theme music for this series. If you enjoyed this conversation, share the podcast with a friend and let us know by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to support Kintsugi Heroes and the stories we share, head to Kintsugiheroes.com.au and follow the instructions to make a tax-deductible donation. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time. Brand new moon, brand new sun.
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