Kyle MacDonald - Psychotherapist

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Kyle MacDonald - Psychotherapist Psychotherapist, Director of the Robert Street Clinic and Mental Health Advocate Nick Smith. He has recently become an insufferable e-bike convert.

Kyle is an AUT trained psychotherapist, with over 20 years clinical experience across the public and private sectors. He is passionate about improving access to mental health and addictions treatment and educating the public about psychotherapy. Since 2016 he’s written a weekly mental health column for the NZ Herald, and co-hosted the award-winning mental health radio show “The Nutters Club” on NewstalkZB. For the last 10 years he has publicly fought for improved access to mental health and addiction services. In 2009 Kyle was one of the media spokespeople for a small group who protested the National Government’s changes to the ACC’s Sensitive Claims scheme – funded counselling for people in New Zealand suffering psychological trauma as a result of sexual violence. As part of these protests he organised one of the first online petitions to be presented in the New Zealand Parliament – by Labour MP Lynne Pillay in October 2009 – in opposition to these changes. The public pressure led the ACC to halt the changes and forced a ministerial inquiry initiated by National Minister the Hon. By 2014 he had worked collaboratively with the ACC to redesign the system to better meet people’s counselling needs. In 2016 he led the “People’s Mental Health Review” with Mike King and Action Station – which led directly to “He Ara Oranga: The Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addictions” initiated by the 2017 Labour led Government. In 2019 he ran for the Auckland District Health Board in the local elections as a Green endorsed “City Vision” candidate, and in the 2020 General election he ran as the Green Party candidate for the electorate of Epsom and was placed at 14 on the Green Party list. He regularly appears on radio and TV offering expert commentary on mental health and emotional wellbeing. He is currently on the Psychotherapy Board of Aotearoa New Zealand (PBANZ), served four years on the NZAP Council and was awarded a Distinguished Service Award by the NZAP for his time promoting psychotherapy. He established – and is co-director of – the Robert Street Clinic in Ellerslie, and lives in Mount Eden Auckland, with his partner and two daughters – where he is a parent representative on the Balmoral School board of trustees.

Timbaland has spoken about his addiction to OxyContin, including the deeply confronting detail that his then-wife once s...
20/10/2026

Timbaland has spoken about his addiction to OxyContin, including the deeply confronting detail that his then-wife once saw him stop breathing in his sleep.

Stories like this matter because opioid addiction can be hidden, frightening, and dangerous long before it is visible to others. Shame tends to keep people isolated. Honest public conversations can help make it a little easier to recognise risk and seek help.

Timbaland reflected on his OxyContin addiction, saying his then-wife once saw him stop breathing in his sleep.

An interesting piece on research linking maternal depression in pregnancy with higher rates of some neurodevelopmental d...
20/10/2026

An interesting piece on research linking maternal depression in pregnancy with higher rates of some neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

As always, linked doesn’t mean simple cause and effect, and it certainly isn’t a reason to blame mothers. It is a reminder that mental health in pregnancy is health care, not an optional extra — and that good support for parents matters for the whole whānau.

Children of mothers with depression had higher rates of certain neurodevelopmental disorders regardless of whether they were exposed to antidepressants in the womb, according to a new study led by Saraid McIlvride of the University of Glasgow, U.K. The study was published Sept. 29 in the journal PLO...

Off the Couch: From the Archives... Decision fatigue is one of those ideas that can sound simple, but becomes very usefu...
19/10/2026

Off the Couch: From the Archives...
Decision fatigue is one of those ideas that can sound simple, but becomes very useful once you start noticing it in everyday life. The more choices we have to make, especially under pressure, the harder it can become to stay clear, motivated and careful with the next one. I’ve written about this before because it’s a helpful way to understand mental overload, at work and at home. Sometimes the problem isn’t that we’re lazy or indecisive. Sometimes our minds are simply tired from too many decisions.

Have you ever come home exhausted from work and felt unable to even make the most simple decisions? Or found half way through a big project that you simply don’t care any more and start making random...

This is an interesting example of how the costs of betting addiction are being framed as a public health issue, not just...
19/10/2026

This is an interesting example of how the costs of betting addiction are being framed as a public health issue, not just an individual problem.

The article reports that a government is suing betting companies for $191 million, arguing that a previous transfer did not cover treatment costs for betting addiction, estimated at $496 million.

Whatever the legal outcome, it raises an important question: when industries profit from behaviour that can become addictive, how much responsibility should they carry for the treatment and harm that follows?

Federal Government says last year's transfer does not cover treatment for betting addiction, estimated at $496 million

A useful read on kratom, and why it is becoming such a contested issue.The article notes that CDC-reported calls to pois...
19/10/2026

A useful read on kratom, and why it is becoming such a contested issue.

The article notes that CDC-reported calls to poison control centres involving kratom have surged in recent years, and that addiction specialists are seeing more concern about it.

One of the tricky things here is the word “supplement”. It can make something sound benign, when the reality may be more complicated. We need better public conversations about risk, dependence, regulation, and how people get reliable information before harm escalates.

The surging popularity of a supplement called kratom is shedding light on the murky regulatory landscape occupied by so-called 'gas station drugs.'

An interesting and uncomfortable piece about a French literary prize, a bestselling novel, and allegations that AI was i...
18/10/2026

An interesting and uncomfortable piece about a French literary prize, a bestselling novel, and allegations that AI was involved in writing it.

What stood out to me is not just the question of whether a detector is right or wrong, but how quickly trust can become the central issue. Readers often feel they are meeting a human mind on the page. If AI is part of the process, perhaps the most useful question is not simply whether it was used, but what needs to be disclosed so that readers can decide for themselves.

The latest literary AI scandal forces us to question what we expect of writers. Some French authors argue AI is now part of our lives – and authorship is evolving.

The nocebo response is the less talked-about cousin of the placebo effect: when negative expectations can make symptoms ...
18/10/2026

The nocebo response is the less talked-about cousin of the placebo effect: when negative expectations can make symptoms or side effects feel worse.

This piece looks at whether self-hypnosis may help soften those negative expectations around treatment. I think it’s an interesting question, especially because expectations are not “just thoughts” — they can shape how people approach care, tolerate discomfort, and make sense of what happens in their bodies.

Can negative expectations about a treatment be improved with the use of self-hypnosis?

The idea of an ‘addictive personality’ is one of those phrases that can sound explanatory, but often doesn’t tell us ver...
17/10/2026

The idea of an ‘addictive personality’ is one of those phrases that can sound explanatory, but often doesn’t tell us very much.

This TIME piece is a useful reminder that addiction is a complex brain disorder, shaped by a range of factors, and that it can happen to anyone. That matters, because how we understand addiction affects how we respond to people who are struggling: with blame and simplification, or with curiosity, care and effective support.

Addiction is a complex brain disorder that can be brought on by a variety of factors—and it can happen to anyone.

An interesting piece on the idea of “bracing” our way through the day.I like the nervous-system framing here: Lynn Jones...
17/10/2026

An interesting piece on the idea of “bracing” our way through the day.

I like the nervous-system framing here: Lynn Jones, a psychotherapist who specialises in somatic EMDR, describes the nervous system as something constantly processing information. That can be a useful way to think about why our bodies sometimes seem to be working hard even when nothing obvious is happening.

In therapy, paying attention to the body can be a way into understanding stress, not just an add-on to talking about it.

If you’ve noticed you’re “bracing” throughout your days, it’s likely due to feeling overwhelmed by life. Ahead, experts share more on why this happens, and how to break the cycle for good.

A useful reminder here that “psychedelic” is not one thing.This article looks at salvinorin A, a compound from Salvia di...
17/10/2026

A useful reminder here that “psychedelic” is not one thing.

This article looks at salvinorin A, a compound from Salvia divinorum, which appears to work through the kappa opioid receptor rather than the serotonin pathways usually associated with psilocybin or L*D.

In animal studies, it has shown some promise around pain, addiction-related behaviour, and stroke models. But the picture is much less clear for depression, and side effects remain a major barrier.

For me, the important part is the caution: interesting mechanisms and animal findings are not the same as evidence that something is safe or useful for people. Still, research into different brain systems may matter if we’re trying to understand distress, pain, and recovery in more nuanced ways.

An unusual psychedelic found in Salvia divinorum shows promise for treating pain, addiction, and stroke in animal models. However, anxiety-inducing side effects and a fleeting duration mean modified versions may be needed for human therapies.

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Robert Street Clinic, 37 Roberts Street, Ellerslie
Auckland
1051

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+6421708689

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