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 not advice or expert opinions. It's just real people explaining what the...

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't get that. They go to bed not knowi...

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 been on TV. He didn't tell his closest friends...

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 leader. He spent the next three years t...

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 something crucial: men don't grieve wrong - th...

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 empty promises. "Show me," she said, a...

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 words, but he remembered the feeling. "I ...

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 celebrities who died tragically at that age.

Instead, he got so...

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 the binging started - hiding her eating, ter...

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, never once considering walking across the ro...

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 one morning, he looked in the mirror...

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 two and a half years in prison.

Fast forw...

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 came two years later when the PTSD caug...

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 years after diagnosis, a psychiatrist sugge...

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 assessed in Year 2. Rich spent years thinking negatively ...

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 takeaway: be kind. See women as peopl...

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 work - it's about turning up, sitting alongside, and creating...

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 research has connected to suicidality. Reading ...

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 Zealand's gambling industry.

Arohanui fa...