Presented in partnership with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at UChicago

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About the book: Black women’s strength is intimately tied to their unacknowledged suffering. An estimated eight in ten have endured some form of trauma–sexual abuse, domestic abuse, poverty, childhood abandonment, victim/witness to violence, and regular confrontation with racism and sexism. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen shows that trauma often impacts mental and physical well-being. It can contribute to stress, anxiety, PTSD, and depression. Unaddressed it can lead to hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, overeating, and alcohol and drug abuse, and other chronic health issues.

Dr. Burnett-Zeigler explains that the strong Black woman image does not take into account the urgency of Black women’s needs, which must be identified in order to lead abundant lives. It interferes with her relationships and ability to function day to day. Through mindfulness and compassionate self-care, the psychologist offers methods for establishing authentic strength from the inside out.

This informative guide to healing, is life-changing, showing Black women how to prioritize the self and find everyday joys in self-worth, as well as discover the fullness and beauty within both her strength and vulnerability.

About the author: Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She has two decades of clinical experience helping people with stress, trauma, mood and anxiety conditions, and difficulty in interpersonal relationships. In her clinical practice she promotes holistic wellness through mindfulness, self-compassion and healthy behavior change. Inger’s scholarly work focuses on the role that social determinants of health play in mental illness and treatment, particularly in the Black community. She is the author of the book Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women. She has written dozens of articles and other publications on mental health in the Black community and lectures widely on barriers to access and engagement in mental health treatment, mindfulness and strategies to improve mental health outcomes and participation in treatment. Inger is an advocate for normalizing participation in mental health treatment and ensuring that all individuals have access to high-quality, evidence based mental health care. She is an active contributor to the public discourse on mental health and she has been featured in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, and Chicago Tribune. Inger received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Cornell University, her doctorate in clinical psychology from Northwestern University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the VA Ann Arbor/University of Michigan. She lives in Chicago.

About the interlocutors: Candice Norcott, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, national consultant, and public speaker. Dr Norcott is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Connecticut and completed her pre and post-doctoral work in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University. Dr. Norcott works as an Assistant Professor and co-Director of the OBGYN Mental Health Program at the University of Chicago. In this role, her work encompasses providing trauma, gender, and culturally-responsive psychiatric services to patients referred by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is also the Director of GME Well-Being for the University of Chicago where she brings her trauma-informed approach to resident physician well-being. Dr. Norcott speaks internationally on issues related to trauma, gender and race. She was featured on the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly” and is a recurring guest on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk as an expert discussing the impact of sexual abuse on girls and young women, and the intersection of race. Throughout her career, Dr. Norcott has been committed to trauma-informed and gender-responsive services for girls and women, minority advancement in psychology, and cultural responsiveness in the health field.

Sonya Mathies Dinizulu, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, an educator, consultant, and public speaker. She is currently an Associate Professor in Psychiatry & Behavior Neuroscience at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Dinizulu, founded and directs the University of Chicago Stress, Trauma & Resilience (U*STAR) Program, and she Co-Directs the Recovery & Empowerment After Community Trauma (REACT) Assessment Clinic.  Her clinical activities and research focus on identifying risk and protective factors, mental health promotion, and developing innovative community-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive services and interventions for Black youth and families exposed to violence. Dr. Dinizulu extends her work as a consultant with local and national organizations and institutions such as the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the CDC, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.  She has been featured as an expert in several investigative pieces such as NPR’s “Those Who Did Not Die: The Survivors of Chicago’s Gun Violence Epidemic”, and The Chicago Sun Times “Over 1,000 Victims, 126 Dead, Just 2 Convictions: 6 Years of Mass Shootings in Chicago.”  She has published peer-reviewed studies and presents locally and nationally about the impact of community violence, racial, historical, or intergenerational trauma affecting youth and families.

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Tags: 57th Street Books, Candice Norcott, Chicago, Hyde Park, Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, Sonya Mathies Dinizulu, The Seminary Co-op Bookstores