A Killarney resident is celebrating the second release in her series of self-help books. Brazilian-born lifestyle coach Michelle Hadad wrote ‘The Secret Box II – Concave and Convex’ as a way for people to open discussions around dealing with suicidal tendencies “It deals more with the difficulties people have in communicating those feelings, I understand how difficult it is to communicate and open up about them,” Michelle explained. “For the first book, I used a lot of my own experiences to make it easier to write and engage with the character, but actually a lot of Maria’s struggles were based on what my clients dealt with.” The book follows two Irish narratives, each examining suicide through different perspectives and circumstances. This approach was inspired by Michelle’s work in her own clinic in Longford, which she ran before moving to Kerry. “I’ve lived here for 14 years, and I’ve seen how discreet Irish people are and how concerned they get about ‘exposing’ themselves,” Michelle said. The first book in the series, “The Secret Box – Finding the Key,” follows a Brazilian woman named Maria as she grows throughout the chapters, or Padlocks, until both she and the reader are posed a question as Padlock 13 – “who are you?” “I’ve recently started a YouTube channel that goes through the books and makes the books more familiar and helps to answer the question,” Michelle explained. “There is currently one workshop up on the channel, and this helps to explain the book in more detail, so my plan for now is to continue that as well as work on some motivational programmes to help others. “People reading the book might be reading thinking ‘well I know who I am’ but they might be surprised as I’m explaining step-by-step what they find out about themselves.”
