Take It From Us with Kent Johns

Heidi McIlroy teaches kids who can't make it into a regular classroom. They're too anxious, struggling with their mental health, autistic - kids who carry shame because they think they're broken. She gets it because she's been there. Years of agoraphobia, hiding it, convinced something was wrong with her. So she created a book called "This Is How It Feels". It's...

A different kind of episode this week. Host Kent recently slept rough for one night at the Big Sleepout. He bedded down on cardboard at the AUT campus, part of a group of 70 community leaders raising funds and awareness for people experiencing homelessness in Auckland. One night. Terrible sleep. But he was safe, fed, warm and dry. Which made him realise something: people living on the streets don&...

Joe Daymond is a Kiwi comedian who makes you laugh about the hard stuff - the things most of us hide. He talks about things like mental health and relationships on stage in a way that makes people feel less alone. He's had low times, including two periods where he slept rough in his car for a bit. The first time in 2018, nobody knew. The second time three years later, after he'd already...

Todd Muller was elected leader of the National Party in May 2020, a tantalising final step towards achieving a boyhood dream of one day being Prime Minister.  Within five days, he was experiencing waves of anxiety he'd never felt before - panic attacks so severe he could barely get through speeches, the words on the page constantly moving and disappearing. After 53 days, he stepped down as le...

Chris Bowden lost 5 friends to suicide when he was a young man. He coped badly - drinking, drugs, anger, violence, getting into fights. He was spiralling. A university lecturer noticed something wasn't right and pointed Chris toward help. That counsellor changed his life. Now Chris is a researcher passionate about understanding how young men grieve suicide loss. His PhD research revealed some...

Melanie Rauth grew up in Australia. When her parents separated at 13, she started making different choices - cannabis, the wrong crowd, trouble at school. She had her daughter and in 2010 they moved to New Zealand. Rural isolation and methamphetamine came next. Her life spiralled into crime and five prison stints between 2017 and 2021. But on her last arrest, her young daughter had had enough of e...

Dave Burnside started drinking at eight. He was drawn into the gang scene and drugs in Auckland. Multiple prison sentences followed - he was angry, railing against the system. Then one day in Spring Hill Prison, a man from his past appeared at his cell door. Another Dave, someone just like him - gangs, drugs, the same story. But this Dave had found recovery and peace. Dave didn't remember the...

In 2026, Auckland man Shelwin Khan is thriving as a peer support worker and lived experience advisor. But it wasn't always like this. Shelwin started drinking at 13. By his mid-20s he was, by his own admission, 'unemployable', had three stints in rehab he never completed, and wanted to end his life. He wanted to join the '27 Club' - a pop culture reference to a string of c...

Lotta Dann is a well-known author and advocate in the addiction recovery space. This year marks 15 years since her last drink. Six years ago, Lotta had a second awakening - this time about diet culture. She'd found a guru with strict rules: no snacking, weigh everything, eliminate flour and sugar. She lost over 15 kilos and the world loved her skinny body. The praise was intoxicating. Then th...

Dean Clarkson established Wana Charitable Trust in 2024 to help men and their families who've suffered family violence. Based in Takanini, South Auckland, Dean provides safe housing, group therapy, and one-on-one coaching. Dean spent 20 years in an abusive relationship - psychological abuse that escalated to physical violence. He ended up in a Pak'nSave car park in Mangere spitting blood...

Freddie Bennett co-founded Bay Paediatrics in Tauranga, and in his words, is leading the neurodiversity revolution. Less than 10 years ago, Freddie had the Porsche, the Rolex, the corporate life in the UK. From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, he was falling apart - stressed, depressed, seeking escape. When his dad died suddenly, Freddie spent six months drinking away his sorrows. Then...

Kevin Hollingsworth is a clinical practitioner, addiction counsellor, and executive director of Mana Enhancing Stop Group in Rotorua. He's been in recovery from methamphetamine addiction for over 16 years. Kevin started using cannabis at six. He transitioned to methamphetamine. In the grip of addiction, the desire to use was stronger than the desire to live. He was arrested 29 times and spent...

Kelsey Waghorn survived the Whakaari White Island volcanic eruption on December 9, 2019. In two minutes, the volcano changed the trajectory of her life. Kelsey made split-second decisions that saved lives - staying still when she wanted to run, getting everyone on the boat when help never came. She spent five days in a coma, weeks in hospital. The burns were catastrophic. But the darkest moment ca...

Liz Downes is a Peer Support Specialist and Associate Professional Lead at Counties Manukau Health, working alongside people with shared lived experience of bipolar disorder. Liz trained as a nurse. After having her first baby, she developed postnatal depression. When her baby turned one, she had a psychotic episode and was diagnosed with bipolar. She's lived with bipolar for 30 years. Five y...

Bex Waugh and Rich Rowley are self-described as 'neuro-spicy' - and they're on a mission to help workplaces understand the value neurodivergent people bring. They're the force behind Neurofusion , an organisation helping people and workplaces find their flow - doing work that suits their cognitive style, not fighting against it. Bex got her ADHD diagnosis after her daughter was...

Suzette Jackson has just submitted her PhD in social work at the University of Auckland, researching a unique drug treatment program for pregnant women and mothers at Higher Ground in Auckland. Suzette is 13 years in recovery from drug addiction. Her research followed seven women - five of them Māori - at the apex of need: living in cars, multiple children removed, severe family violence. Her big...

Asha Munn is an art psychotherapist, EMDR therapist and founder of Breathing Space Charitable Trust . At university, Asha got unwell and didn't think she'd return for her final year. Art healed her - she made work every day, figured out her future, and decided to become a therapist. Asha's approach: no assumptions, no judgment, no analysis. Art therapy isn't about analysing wor...

Lynda Hills is a suicide researcher studying for a PhD at Auckland University, and her lived experience is informing her research. Seventeen years ago, Lynda tried to take her own life. She was left with critical injuries and has undergone nearly 50 surgeries. She had to learn to walk again. Lynda's research focuses on akathisia - a side effect of antidepressants and antipsychotics that resea...

Rose Heta-Minhinnick and her daughter Arohanui Minhinnik run Te Waa Charitable Trust, helping young people and their families in Waiuku, southwest of Auckland. Rose is 12 years in recovery from alcohol and gambling addiction. She knows the progression - the buildup of disappointment, the rock bottom, the fear of losing her children. That fear was enough. Now she advocates for law change in New Zea...

Ten years ago, online harassment followed Anna Ashton everywhere - she couldn't escape by changing schools or moving homes. She became agoraphobic, was misdiagnosed with social anxiety, and eventually attempted suicide. Her clinician didn't understand digital harm. There were no assessment tools, no training on grooming, catfishing, or sextortion. Anna had to teach her clinician the term...

Dom Huxley is the General Manager of Surfing for Farmers, a grassroots organisation helping the rural community through surf therapy. Since 2018, over 8,000 farmers have taken part across 25 beaches around New Zealand. Dom is a former professional mountaineer who spent years in corporate roles before finding his calling in the charity sector. Dom's vision is to expand to all coasts, move inla...

Riqi Harawira's band Dead Flowers used to play in front of tens of thousands, supporting acts like Guns N' Roses and Pearl Jam.  Now Riqi works at Man Alive in West Auckland, helping men build better relationships. Riqi is a survivor of addiction, and sexual abuse in foster care. Now he's helping other men work through their own darkness. And he's making new music with a messag...

Ben Purua is a South Waikato farmer who grew up in South Auckland surrounded by poverty, gangs and violence. He joined a gang at 13. At 16, he was sent to prison for manslaughter. Ben discovered farming while in Waikeria Prison - working on the prison farm gave him a sense of freedom and belonging he'd never felt before. When he was released in 2015, his employer took a chance on him, and he&...

Dr. Moana Tane is the chief executive of Tauranga Living Without Violence, and she's challenging the assumptions we make about domestic violence. It's not rooted in socioeconomic hardship. Overwhelmingly, violence in the home is committed by men regardless of race or status.  Moana's work began in Australia managing health services. When she moved into social services, she noticed s...

Josh Komen was a gun athlete with aspirations to run the 800 metres for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games - until a cancer diagnosis changed everything. Josh's life was tipped on its head. He spent five years in Australia getting specialised treatment for Graft-versus-Host-Disease after a stem cell transplant. His new immune system was attacking his body. He suffered 12 heart attacks in M...