book coming soon!
Available in stores Feb 2026
Pre-sale available today at:
Canada | Harper Collins Canada​
United States | Hachette Go
This book more than instructs about healing; it makes healing into a practical aim and endeavour.
While a highly trained professional, Dr. Cheek does not cloak and armour herself in the white coat of academic expertise without sharing her own vulnerability. This is a guide we can trust.
-Dr. Gabor Mate, MD
Author of Myth of Normal, In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts, and Scattered Minds
A book that manages to be both deeply useful and profoundly interesting. Dr Joanna Cheek places our mental troubles in the context of the wider world, and this collective view of mental health helps us understand where our thoughts and fears stem from. A must-read for anyone interested in minds and their environment. I loved it.’
- Matt Haig
​Author of The Midnight Train & Reasons to Stay Alive
The real reason emotional suffering is skyrocketing isn’t because we’re flawed or broken—it’s because we’re responding to a deeply unwell world. In this brilliant, wise, and profoundly compassionate book, Dr. Joanna Cheek guides us to see the wider ecology driving our distress—the dis-ease of greed, hatred and delusion that infects our societies. With clarity and care, she invites us to face these truths together, to hold hands, and to begin healing the roots of our collective pain.
- Tara Brach, PhD
Author of Radical Acceptance, Radical Compassion, & True Refuge
Kudos to Dr. Cheek for showing us the science behind our global dysfunction, and the research-led responses needed to heal ourselves and our world. Without flinching, Joanna faces the personal and the political, bringing her 'perky optimist' self and clinical expertise to a stunning range of problems. Her courage and wisdom shine through these pages!
- Jack Kornfield, PhD
Author of A Wise Heart & Bringing Home the Dharma, and Trudy Goodman, PhD, Founding Teacher of InsightLA​
A must read! A revolutionary road map to make sense in an often senseless world. A powerful antidote to the current geopolitical climate and uncertain times plaguing all of us. A book that calls for recognition of the human in humanity.
- Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, MD
Past President of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada & Doctors of British Columbia
Highlighting the inextricably interconnected nature of our existence and the vast web of causes and conditions behind each of our individual experiences, Dr. Cheek's "It's Not You, It's the World" emphasizes the need for greater compassion and mutual understanding to best meet the polycrises impacting us all today.
- Sharon Salzberg
Author of Lovingkindness and Real Life
about me
Joanna Cheek is an award-winning clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, psychiatrist, journalist, author, speaker, meditation teacher, and psychotherapist. She sees mental health struggles as symptoms of the imbalances in our wider systems, and hopes to decrease the stigma that is too often misplaced on the individuals who suffer rather than the ailing society around them. In addition to caring for individuals, she hopes to heal the harmful dynamics of domination, division, and indifference within our collective systems, teaching that collective-care is self-care.
get in touch
Joanna is represented by Marilyn Biderman at the Transatlantic Agency.
If your inquiry regards Joanna's books, kindly contact marilyn@transatlanticagency.com
For speaking inquiries, contact Rob Firing at rob@transatlanticagency.com
​
​