Prentis Hemphill
Prentis Hemphill | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | American |
| Education | Master of Arts in Clinical psychology |
| Occupations | Writer; therapist; somatic facilitator |
| Notable work | What It Takes to Heal |
| Website | prentishemphill |
Prentis Hemphill is an American writer, therapist, and somatic facilitator. They are the founder of The Embodiment Institute and the author of What It Takes To Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World (2024).[1][2][3]
Background
Hemphill is a longtime community organizer involved in healing justice and somatic practice.[4] They spent 10 years doing healing work around their relationship with their father while extending their embodied healing practice through work with Black movements and marginalized communities.[4][5] They hold an M.A in Clinical psychology.[5]
Career
Hemphill's work focuses on somatic and embodiment-based approaches within social justice, feminist and LGBTQIA community organising.[4][5][6] They have worked with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD) as a somatic practitioner.[4] They served as Healing Justice Director at the Black Lives Matter Global Network before founding The Embodiment Institute (TEI).[4]
Hemphill founded The Embodiment Institute to provide training and public education in embodiment and healing justice.[6] They host the podcast Finding Our Way, which explores embodiment, relational practice, and healing justice through interviews and guided reflections.[4][5] In 2021, they contributed a chapter titled The Wisdom of Process in You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience anthology edited by Tarana Burke and Brené Brown.[7] In 2024, they published What It Takes To Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change The World.[8][9]
Book Reception
Hemphill’s What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World was published by Random House in 2024.[10][11] Lakiba Pittman's review of the book in Journal of Black Psychology highlighted its accessibility and integration of personal narrative, somatic therapy, and cultural analysis, while noting that readers seeking evidence-based research or comparative frameworks might desire greater engagement with non-Western traditions and empirical studies.[12] Lauren Brownlee in Friends Journal discussed What It Takes to Heal alongside Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown, through the lens of its personal transformation and social change connection.[13]
Bibliography
- What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World (Random House, 2024; paperback edition 2025).ISBN 9780593946725
- “The Wisdom of Process,” in You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience, edited by Tarana Burke and Brené Brown (Random House, 2021).ISBN 9780593243633
See also
References
- ↑ "Prentis Hemphill". Penguin Random House. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ Duncan, Tracey Anne (July 17, 2026). "Known That Liberation Lives In The Body". HuffPost. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
- ↑ "Earthly Reads: Prentis Hemphill on What It Takes to Heal". For The Wild. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jossell, Shar (April 15, 2021). "Prentis Hemphill Is Forging a Path Toward Collective Healing". Them. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Prentis Hemphill". University of Wisconsin–Madison, Confronting Injustice. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
- 1 2 Mukhopadhyay, Samhita (July 11, 2023). "Doing the Work While Doing the Work". The Nation. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ "You Are Your Best Thing – Contributors and Contents". Brené Brown. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ The Ink; Kamenetz, Anya (December 9, 2024). "What healing has to do with justice". The Ink. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
- ↑ "What It Takes to Heal: Prentis Hemphill on Conflict, Burnout, and the Body's Warning Signs". Ebony. June 9, 2025. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ "What It Takes To Heal". Guardian Bookshop. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ "What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World". USA Today. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
- ↑ Pittman, Lakiba (2024). "Review of What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World by Prentis Hemphill". Journal of Black Psychology. doi:10.1177/00957984251385663.
- ↑ Brownlee, Lauren (March 1, 2025). "What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World AND Loving Corrections". Friends Journal. Retrieved January 19, 2026.