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Michael Wash
At the age of fifteen, after spending eighteen months in a Catholic school, training for a life of a religious teacher as a De La Salle brother, I decided
to come home and face the realities of a ...view moreAt the age of fifteen, after spending eighteen months in a Catholic school, training for a life of a religious teacher as a De La Salle brother, I decided
to come home and face the realities of a different type of family life. The desire within me to help others was still strong, and on the eve of me leaving
to do voluntary services overseas at the age of seventeen, an opportunity to join the school of psychiatry as a student nurse was too much of a coincidence
to ignore.
Those first few years working in a large mental institution in the early 1970s, wiped out any sense of remaining naivety or innocence I had about the
capability of the human mind to destroy itself and others. My path was set, but I was unhappy to be constrained by ‘institutional walls,’ so after
psychiatry, I trained as a general nurse, then as a tutor – and in my private practice, qualified as a counsellor and psychotherapist.
The constraining nature of the ‘health’ profession was still too much, so I decided to explore alternative career options. My horizon changed significantly
when after writing a paper proposing that most senior managers suffer from organisational psychoses or neurosis, I was offered a job in a large
telecommunications company. Here, I introduced counselling as a legitimate form of support for the business and the value of developing a supportive,
‘facilitative change management’ style of leadership. My premise was that large organisations damage your health – and it doesn’t have to be that way.
The irony was that during this time, I battled for six months against cancer, which created a greater strength and determination in me to carry on the path
of ‘healing,’ whether in the context of work or family life. During these very formative years, I also experienced the tragic death of my mother. Following
an accident, she was left in a coma for several years. Also, my little sister fell ill and endured years of kidney dialysis before dyeing aged 25 from
hepatitis and kidney failure. As a trained nurse I was able to support her on home dialysis for several years.
I was married young, and one of the proudest moments of my life was witnessing the birth of my twin sons. The strain of tragedy, illness, and personal
change was too much for my marriage, and divorce eventually cut the chains – enabling us both to be free and to find new happiness.
I have been running my own business for the past twenty years and feel very privileged to have worked with people and organisations passionate about
wanting to change and discover their true potential. I am very happy, married to Mave, and enjoying my grandfather status and the attention of my sons and
stepchildren.
The journey continues…view less