The Joy of the Disinherited: Essays on Trauma, Oppression, and Black Mental Health...

The Joy of the Disinherited:

Essays on Trauma, Oppression, and Black Mental Health

by Kevin Dedner, MPH

THROUGH HONEST, CAPTIVATING and humane stories of his past and eye-opening research into the effects of racism on mental health, Dedner articulates a call for urgent change: Knocking down the invisible barriers that make it harder for Black people to get the mental health care they need and deserve.

​Dedner has encountered these invisible barriers along his own mental health journey. As a public health professional who has spent his career working on high-profile issues, Dedner uses his autobiographical essays to highlight the latest mental health research. This layer of fact-based information combined with personal storytelling gives Dedner a unique voice in conversations that are shaping the future of mental health care for the Black community and other underserved groups.

About:

Kevin Dedner serves as founder and CEO of Washington-D.C.-based Hurdle, which provides culturally intentional teletherapy to eliminate barriers that make it harder for people of color to get mental health care.

Kevin is deeply connected to Hurdle’s mission, having suffered a period of depression where he found the biggest challenge to effective care was finding the right therapist who could truly understand and connect with his struggles as an African American man. His company equips mental health professionals with the skills needed to effectively address issues of race, ethnicity, class, and culture and exists to ensure people can show up whole, operate with joy, and live with power. Kevin recently penned his first book, The Joy of the Disinherited: Essays on Oppression, Trauma and Black Mental Health. Through honest, captivating, and humane stories of his past and eye-opening research into the effects of racism on mental health, Kevin argues in his book that we must knock down the invisible barriers to mental healthcare.

An award-winning public speaker, Kevin has over 20 years of public health experience. Kevin is a graduate of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and has a Master of Public Health from Benedictine University in Illinois.