Take It From Us with Kent Johns

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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, sittin...

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. Rea...

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.

Arohan...

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 terms.

These days, Anna is doing importan...

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 inland to lakes and mountains, and drive...

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 message. His n...

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's now built a career on ke...

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 something critical: programs for women...

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 Melbourne. At his lowest, Josh nearly...

Maree MacLean is an author and publisher who has helped countless people with her guides to sobriety. Her first book, The No Bullshit Guide to Getting Sober, became an Audible bestseller in 2023.

Maree lost her brother Stu to alcoholism at 37 - he died in her arms at Auckland Hospital. Her own drinking started in her twenties, masked by media work and weekend partying. When she went freelance and her income became unstable, the prob...

For years, Georgie Hanafin thought she was just a bad person. She struggled at school, couldn't maintain friendships, overthought every conversation.

At 34, she realised she had OCD and ADHD. Getting help became its own nightmare. Emergency departments dismissed her. Crisis lines let her down. The system wouldn't listen.

In October 2022, desperate and burnt out, Georgie did something drastic - she orchestrated her way into ...

Ian Walker has survived two catastrophic spinal cord injuries - one in 2006 when his bicycle hit a truck, another in 2019 when a 4x4 dragged his hand-cycle 15 metres down the road.  

After 13 days in a coma, nothing woke him - until broadcaster Jason Pine started talking about his favourite football team, Liverpool FC, on Radio Sport. Ian clenched his fist and slowly came back. 

Instead of fixating on huge goals like walking again, I...

Debbs Murray endured nearly eight years of coercive control before her dad saw the knife-slashed bed where her ex-partner thought she'd been sleeping... that moment forced her to finally call the police and leave.

Debbs is now the founder of Eclipse Family Violence Services, training over 6,500 frontline responders and practitioners. Her mission: teaching people that coercive control - the psychological, emotional, unseen harm ...