Prentis Hemphill

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.

Background Hemphill is a longtime community organizer involved in healing justice and somatic practice. 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. They hold an M.A in Clinical psychology. They have worked with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD) as a somatic practitioner. In 2024, they published What It Takes To Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change The World.

Book Reception Hemphill’s What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World was published by Random House in 2024. 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. 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.