Soul survivor

Gwendoline Smith, aka Dr Know, is a colourful character in so many ways.

Her self-help offering The Book of Knowing spent 10 weeks this year at the top of the New Zealand best-seller list. A writer, speaker and psychologist, she specialises in depression and anxiety. The success of her book, she says, shows the enormity of the need out there. In it, she shows you how you think and how that dictates the way you feel.

She is waiting for me outside her home in inner-city Auckland, a splash of colour on an otherwise dull winter’s day. She’s sporting a pair of bright red sneakers, a multi-coloured top and a faux fur waistcoat, topped by a pair of large-framed glasses to match her sizeable earrings. She is warm, enthusiastic, welcoming.

That she has long been a household name in psychology circles is testament not only to the quality of work she does but also to her strength and resilience, because Gwendoline herself struggles