Take It From Us with Kent Johns
Take It From Us is the voice of lived experience. In this podcast, you'll hear real people share honest stories about mental health, addiction, trauma and recovery - straight from their own journeys.
They'll tell you what actually worked, what didn't, and what they wish they'd known sooner.
Host Kent Johns is a former broadcaster-turned-health-coach who believes everyone has a story to tell if people take the time to really listen.
So settle in, you're going to hear some stories. Take it from us - and from them.
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If you need support, click here for helpful links, phone numbers and resources:
https://ember.org.nz/resources/in-a-crisis/
Take It From Us with Kent Johns
Rhonda Hāpi-Smith: Surviving 20 years as a female prison officer
Rhonda Hāpi-Smith describes her career as a female prison officer in New Zealand as "wonderful, devastating, fantastic and heartbreaking" - and those contradictions tell the whole story.
For 20 years, she walked among dangerous criminals at Rimutaka and Hawkes Bay men's prisons, loving the brotherhood, the resilience she witnessed, and the humour that got her through each day. But the career she loved also slowly broke her down - sometimes compromising her principles, destroying relationships, and driving her to alcohol.
When Rhonda discovered an inmate's suicide, everything changed. In this raw conversation about her book "Inside the Wire", she reveals the personal cost of corrections work - the PTSD, the broken marriages, the numbness that kept her functional but disconnected from herself.
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a text here!
If you need support, here are helpful links, phone numbers and resources: https://ember.org.nz/resources/in-a-crisis/
