This City Is Killing Me

Community Trauma and Toxic Stress in Urban America

De: Jonathan Foiles

Narrado por: Kevin Kenerly

When Jonathan Foiles was a graduate student in social work, he had to choose between a mental health or policy track. But once he began working, he found it impossible to tell the two apart. While helping poor patients from the south side and west side of Chicago, he realized that individual therapy could not take into account the importance of unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing, and other policy decisions that impact the well-being of both individuals and communities.

It is easy to be depressed if you live in a neighborhood that has few supportive resources available or is marred by gun violence. We are able to diagnose people with depression, but how does one heal a neighborhood?

This City Is Killing Me brings policy and psychology together. Through case studies, Foiles opens up his therapy door to allow us to overhear the stories of individual poor Chicagoans. As we listen, Foiles teaches us how he makes diagnoses, explains how therapists before him would analyze these patients, and, through statistics and the example of Chicago, teaches us how policy decisions have contributed to these individuals’ suffering. The result is a remarkable, unique work with an urgent political call to action at its core.

©2019 Jonathan Foiles (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Chicago-based mental health clinician Foiles looks at the many ways in which urban poverty, crime, violence, and other socio-economic factors can destroy a life.... An urgent call for reform worthy of serious consideration." (Kirkus Reviews)

Not good and not bad

Good way of telling a story and talking about the topic. A little surface but over I enjoyed the how it all came together.

Insightful, nonpartisan in depth and raw

I’m taking Community Psychology this summer toward my Minor in Psych so I searched Audible for anything I could find to glean some insight. This was perfect! I liked how the author used real people’s life experiences. I find it interesting to follow and learn a ton that way. Overall a good short narrative for this subject.

Loved it!

This book is amazing! I loved the humanization and real life experiences to paint a picture of “the point.”

A good book! A must read for social workers.

This book is a must read for anyone entering into the Human Service field. Good stories. Reader's voice does not put u to sleep.

Everyone in Chicago should read this!

Excellent book, informative and well written. Jonathan Foiles' work as a therapist on the west side of Chicago is fascinating and he does an excellent job connecting the experiences of his clients to systematic issues with the social safety net in the city.

Thought provoking

This book is great for anyone interested in social justice. It also focuses way more on policy effects on individuals than other social/political books I've read. Good for anyone interested in social work or urban affairs.