Kintsugi Heroes
From the Police to First Responder PTSD Advocate - Sean Haran
Sean Haran
Sean Haran learned he had ADHD at 55, reframing a lifetime of seeking excitement and a fracture that cost him his tribe.
Kintsugi Studio
Kintsugi Heroes
Sean Haran
Sean Haran learned he had ADHD at 55, reframing a lifetime of seeking excitement and a fracture that cost him his tribe.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Sean Haran joined the Western Australian police in 1978 after a sympathetic doctor helped him past a colourblindness test that would have blocked his path. He spent fifteen years in uniform, finding his place in the Tactical Response Group after it became a full-time unit in 1985. It was the job that finally made sense of his restless need for excitement, the work that gave him belonging. Then he was asked to leave, and it destroyed him. Years later, at fifty-five, Sean discovered he had ADHD, a diagnosis that reframed his whole life. The drive for excitement, the difficulty with rules, the reason he'd been pushed out of the unit, it all became clear far too late.
When Sean left policing, he didn't just lose a job. He left Western Australia, his mates, and the deep friendships that come from shared service. The years that followed were a struggle. He worked as an ambulance officer, tried to find his footing in civilian life, and carried undiagnosed ADHD alongside untreated PTSD. What finally shifted things was finding purpose again through work, then through a conversation at a funeral. Sean's mate Simon attended the wake of a first responder who had left the service, was struggling, and took his life, leaving a wife and two children. That loss sparked an idea: what if there was a program to help people leaving first responder work imagine a different future?
Beyond the Badge offers a five-day career transition program at no cost, with no pressure and no reporting back to any organisation. Sean's message to anyone leaving the service is simple: there's a chance to find meaningful work, to reconnect with purpose, and to build a life that still matters. The worst thing the system does, he says, is push people into sitting at home for years. What actually heals them is finding purpose again.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses grief & loss, 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 • GriefLine: 1300 845 745 · griefline.org.au
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