Jumia Books What It Takes To Heal - Prentis Hemphill

What It Takes to Heal by Prentis Hemphill is a transformative book that explores how healing at both individual and collective levels is essential for creating a more just and connected world. Hemphill, a therapist, somatics teacher, and activist, centers the concept of embodiment—the awareness of our body’s sensations, habits, and the beliefs they carry—as foundational to lasting healing and social change.

The book argues that healing cannot be achieved in isolation; rather, it must happen within community, addressing not only personal trauma but also the systemic and historical wounds embedded in society. Hemphill weaves personal stories, clinical insights, and lessons from social movements to illustrate how integrating somatic practices and interpersonal skills can break cycles of disconnection and foster resilience.

Key themes include:

The importance of recognizing how trauma is stored in the body and how embodiment practices can unlock healing.

The necessity of courage and vulnerability in building authentic relationships and communities.

How individual healing is intertwined with dismantling oppressive systems and reshaping culture toward justice.

A call to center healing principles in social movements, organizations, and structures to create sustainable transformation.

Praised by thought leaders such as Bessel van der Kolk and Tarana Burke, the book offers both a compassionate guide for personal growth and a visionary framework for collective healing. It challenges readers to rethink healing as a communal, embodied, and political act that can change the world.

In summary, What It Takes to Heal presents a hopeful, practical roadmap for transforming pain into power through embodied healing and community connection, emphasizing that true change requires healing ourselves and the systems around us.

1 BOOK