Take It From Us with Kent Johns
Episodes
Liz Downes: Living with bipolar and supporting others as a peer
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Downes is a Peer Support Specialist and Associate Professional Lead at Counties Manukau Health, working alongside people with shared lived experie...
Rich Rowley & Bex Waugh: The power in being 'neuro-spicy'
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Bex Waugh and Rich Rowley are self-described as 'neuro-spicy' - and they're on a mission to help workplaces understand the value neurod...
Suzette Jackson: 'See women as people first, not just mothers'
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Suzette Jackson has just submitted her PhD in social work at the University of Auckland, researching a unique drug treatment program for pregnant wome...
Asha Munn: On the healing power of creativity
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Asha Munn is an art psychotherapist, EMDR therapist and founder of Breathing Space Charitable Trust.At university, Asha got unwell and didn't thi...
Lynda Hills: Suicide survivor on the research that's her new purpose
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Lynda Hills is a suicide researcher studying for a PhD at Auckland University, and her lived experience is informing her research.Seventeen years ago,...
Rose Heta-Minhinnick & Arohanui Minhinnick: From recovery to empowering the next generation
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Rose Heta-Minhinnick and her daughter Arohanui Minhinnik run Te Waa Charitable Trust, helping young people and their families in Waiuku, southwest of ...
Anna Ashton: Online harm - the crisis no one's trained to handle
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, online harassment followed Anna Ashton everywhere - she couldn't escape by changing schools or moving homes. She became agoraphobi...
Dom Huxley: How surfing is helping farmers combat isolation
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dom Huxley is the General Manager of Surfing for Farmers, a grassroots organisation helping the rural community through surf therapy. Since 2018, over...
Riqi Harawira: Rock Star, Survivor, Counsellor - on smashing the shame
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 wo...
Ben Purua: From Waikeria Prison to Young Māori Farmer of the Year
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 sen...
Dr Moana Tane: Domestic violence - it's not about poverty, it's about men
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Moana Tane is the chief executive of Tauranga Living Without Violence, and she's challenging the assumptions we make about domestic violence....
Josh Komen: A story of epic survival and how a Mum's love pulled him back from the brink
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 every...
Maree MacLean: The no bullshit guide to getting sober
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Georgie Hanafin: Living with OCD, ADHD, and intrusive thoughts
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For years, Georgie Hanafin thought she was just a bad person. She struggled at school, couldn't maintain friendships, overthought every conversat...
Ian Walker: Surviving two spinal cord injuries - and the voice that woke him from a coma
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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-...
Debbs Murray: Coercive control in relationships - what it really looks like
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 slee...
Lisa Reid: How meth addiction took over my life in just six weeks
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Reid's first proper relationship breakup sent her spiralling. What started as weekend drinking turned into trying meth at a party - just to ...
Romy Lee: From addiction to recovery - how I used my experience as a Korean Kiwi to help others
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up as a queer Korean New Zealander, Romy Lee lived between two worlds with two different sets of expectations. The identity dissonance and iso...
Steve Devine & Jack Newman: Asking for help is the hardest thing a man will do
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former All Black Steve Devine spent two years bedridden with migraines after multiple concussions ended his rugby career. Jack Newman got to 142 kilos...
Tom Robinson: The rugby star who walked away for his mental health
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the height of his rugby career, former Blues captain and cult star Tom Robinson walked away from the sport he loved. Behind the big tackles and big...
Camille Keyte: From Mongrel Mob dealer to helping others out of addiction
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2020, Camille Keyte was arrested for dealing methamphetamine for a senior Mongrel Mob member. She'd been addicted since 14, using dai...
Jo Randerson: ADHD, autism and the creative mind
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jo Randerson was diagnosed with ADHD at 46, then autism this year - diagnoses that finally explained the parts of their life that never quite made sen...
Seán Barnes: 'Social fitness' and why men need their mates
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sean Barnes co-founded the Christchurch chapter of WNOW (When No One's Watching) - a global movement where men gather at 6am every Wednesday for ...
Sand artist Wayne Webb: Finding hope on New Brighton beach
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wayne Webb was drowning in addiction and darkness when tragedy struck close to home. In his grief, his pain became visible to someone who asked if he ...
Who cares for the carers? A story of duty, love and Alzheimer's
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Fiona Parrant's sister Charlene was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Fiona moved from Levin to Napier to help care for her - and for Charlene...
Nicola Colman: I recovered from 15 years of anorexia... then helped my daughter do the same
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicola Colman lived with anorexia for 15 years, outwardly functioning through marriage, motherhood and immigration, while giving most of her life to t...
Chris Reidy & Di Langdon: Raising a child with FASD in New Zealand
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Reidy and Di Langdon have spent 20 years advocating for their son with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) - a journey that started with mult...
Linda Collins: What suicide really does to families left behind
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Collins lost her 17-year-old daughter Victoria to suicide in 2014, on the first day of a new school term before she was to catch her bus. The gr...
Waata Heathcote: How lived experience mentoring cut gang reoffending to 2%
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Waata Heathcote spots a man in crisis at 8am in a coffee shop and has him connected to support within 15 minutes. It's just another morning for t...
Wellbeing champion Tim Mehrtens: Why I'm grateful for even the worst things that happened to me
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Mehrtens is passionate about helping people thrive - but that passion was born from his darkest moments. After experiencing severe trauma in 2012,...
Kayla Schwalger: How Samoan culture became my mental health medicine
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up between two worlds, Kayla Schwalger felt disconnected from her Samoan heritage while trying to succeed in New Zealand - a struggle many sec...
Tui Taurua: How I used traditional Māori healing to get off countless psychiatric medications
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tui Taurua calls herself a "mental health warrior" - and after her journey, she's earned that title. From 1977 to 2001, she spent over...
Chris Ranui-Molloy: Recovering from addiction using drama therapy
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Ranui-Molloy's journey from a declining Bay of Plenty logging town to founding Recovery Street is a story of transformation through the mos...
Rhonda Hāpi-Smith: Surviving 20 years as a female prison officer
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rhonda Hāpi-Smith describes her career as a female prison officer in New Zealand as "wonderful, devastating, fantastic and heartbreaking" -...
Teen leader Lola Fisher: How to give young people a voice
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At 17, Lola Fisher is living proof that young people don't need to wait their turn to lead. What started as COVID lockdown boredom became her vis...
Lisa McDonald & Veronica Shale: Why we're giving up alcohol
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This July, thousands of New Zealanders will go alcohol-free for Dry July - but for breast cancer survivor Lisa McDonald, the cause is deeply personal....
Grace Curtis: How to find hope after suicide grief
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, Grace Curtis faced an unimaginable tragedy when she discovered her father's body after he died by suicide, and had to break the devastat...
Trailer
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take It From Us is back. What started as an award-winning community radio show is now something bigger. Host Kent Johns is still here with his same m...