Therapist Uncensored Podcast Where Personal Healing Meets Collective Change with Prentis Hemphill (295)
Healing And Social Change Are Intertwined
- Individual healing and collective transformation must be braided together rather than treated separately.
- Prentis links somatic work and organizing from their Bay Area politicized somatics training and Black Lives Matter healing justice work to show how bodies carry social conditioning.
Stepping From Therapy Into Movement Healing
- Prentis shifted from organizing to therapy after Black Lives Matter work demanded skills beyond clinical practice.
- They were pulled into national healing justice roles in 2014 and found group and movement work required new embodied models.
Oppression As Distributed Trauma
- Oppression can be understood as the distribution of trauma across bodies, places, and zip codes.
- Prentis defines structural neglect and narrative creation as mechanisms that embed trauma into communities over generations.
We don’t heal alone – we heal in connection.
Prentis Hemphill, alongside co-host Sue Marriott, traces their path from social organizing to somatic therapy, revealing how personal healing and collective transformation are deeply intertwined. Together, they explore how inherited myths, power dynamics, and collective trauma shape both our inner worlds and our social systems. This episode invites therapists and change makers alike to consider healing as more than an individual process—it’s relational, embodied, and political in impact.
Prentis offers grounded reflections and practical tools for working with the body, navigating power, and engaging in healing that extends beyond the self.
“When we are courageous, we can do the unexpected and start to mold the world around a vision bigger than one produced by fear. Every inch of progress, every ounce of love, every truly meaningful action from here on out will happen through courage, not comfort.” – Prentis Hemphill
Time Stamps for Where Personal Healing Meets Collective Change (295)
06:15 The interplay of interpersonal and systemic dynamics
09:31 The challenge of updating therapeutic practices
16:49 Impact of myths on human behavior
20:32 Reflections on current political climate and collective trauma
24:10 The myth of “American Exceptionalism”
36:50 Self-care and community engagement
40:07 Resources for healing and transformation
About our Guest – Prentis Hemphill
Prentis Hemphill is the bestselling author of What It Takes to Heal, a groundbreaking exploration of healing, justice, and transformation. A therapist, somatics teacher, facilitator, political organizer, and writer, Prentis is also the founder of The Embodiment Institute and a leading voice in embodied leadership and collective healing. For over a decade, Prentis has worked with individuals and organizations through their most challenging moments of change—navigating leadership transitions, conflict, and the alignment of practice with values. Grounded in an embodied approach, their work ensures that our intentions aren’t just ideas, but are fully lived, felt, and practiced. Before founding The Embodiment Institute, Prentis served as the Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter Global Network and was a lead somatics teacher with generative somatics and Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD). They hold an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and have provided therapeutic services in low-cost mental health clinics, centering marginalized communities. Prentis has contributed to Atlas of the Heart (Brené Brown), The Politics of Trauma (Staci K. Haines), You Are Your Best Thing (edited by Brené Brown & Tarana Burke), and Holding Change (adrienne maree brown). They are also the creator and host of the acclaimed podcasts Finding Our Way and Becoming the People, which have surpassed over a million downloads. At its core, Prentis’ work challenges the complacency of mainstream therapeutic models, infusing healing with the rigor of justice, repair, and accountability. They believe that reclaiming feeling and relationship creates space for true transformation—in ourselves, our movements, and the world. Prentis lives on a small farm in Durham, NC, with their partner, Kasha, their child, and two dogs.
!!NEW OPPORTUNITY!! READING POD STARTING MAY 1ST!
Looking to deep dive into Prentis’s book? Co-host Sue Marriott is hosting a weekly Zoom reading pod – with a potential author Q&A at the conclusion. First session starts May 1st.
$10/session and $5/session for our Supercast and Neuronerds. Learn more and reserve your spot – HERE!
Resources for Where Personal Healing Meets Collective Change with Prentis Hemphill (295)
The Embodiment Institute – Training institute, research entity, and culture change engine that strategically develops people and organizations to be agents of transformation in families, social movements and the environment.
Prentis’s Website – Resources and information
“Becoming the People” – Prentis’s podcast
What It Takes to Heal; Published 2024 by Penguin Random House -Prentis’s book, get your copy today!
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