About The Cost of Healing in Silence
This book is more than research and reflection, it is deeply personal. I tell this story through the lens of my grandmother’s life, a woman whose strength carried generations yet whose pain was often unspoken. She died far too early, and I often find myself wondering: Would she still be here today if she had been given the space, safety, and support to heal out loud?
My grandmother’s silence, like that of my own in the past, and so many in our communities, was not by choice but by circumstance. This silence was shaped by stigma, limited access, and a system that was never built for us. Through her story, I invite readers to see the hidden costs of carrying trauma quietly and the generational impact of unaddressed pain.
The Cost of Healing in Silence explores racial trauma not only as a psychological wound but as a cultural inheritance, one that shapes identity, health, and even longevity. At its core, this book is a call to action: to demand and create care that is culturally responsive, affirming, and accessible.
This is for anyone who has felt unseen in their suffering, for every family who has buried a loved one too soon, and for every therapist, policymaker, or community leader ready to help rewrite the story of healing.
It is my hope that by sharing my grandmother’s story, and my own, we break the silence together and begin to imagine a world where healing is not hidden, but honored.
Why this book matters!
Let's change the narrative!
Slence carries a cost.
For too long, communities of color, particularly Black families have carried the weight of trauma without the resources, safety, or validation to heal out loud. The silence is not just emotional; it’s systemic. It shows up in higher rates of chronic illness, premature death, and the absence of culturally responsive care.
When mental health is ignored, denied, or treated with stigma, the consequences echo across generations. My grandmother’s story is one of countless untold stories where unspoken pain became normalized, and healing was postponed until it was too late. Her early passing is a reminder that silence can take years off our lives.
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The Cost of Healing in Silence matters because it disrupts this cycle. It offers language for racial trauma that has too often been dismissed. It challenges systems that were never designed to see us fully. And it invites a new way forward...one where culturally responsive care is not a privilege but a right.
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This book is not just about personal healing. It is about collective survival, community transformation, and building a future where our children and grandchildren inherit tools to heal, not trauma to carry.
Ashley McGirt-Adair, MSW, LICSW
CEO & Founder
Ashley McGirt is a licensed therapist, TEDx speaker, and founder of Therapy Fund Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating barriers to mental health care in Black communities. She has been featured in Forbes, MSNBC, OWN, Bravo, and more. With over a decade of experience specializing in racial trauma, Ashley weaves clinical expertise with lived experience, offering an unparalleled perspective on healing and equity.
Healing has a cost...but silence costs us more.
