Winner, 2025 NSW Literary Awards - UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
Shortlisted, 2025 NSW Literary Awards - Indigenous Writers' Prize
'The highly anticipated memoir from Nyamal psychologist Dr Tracy Westerman is a fascinating insight into a remarkable life. An international trailblazer in the fields of cultural competency, suicide prevention and Indigenous mental health, her work will be studied for generations to come.' The Saturday Paper
'Jilya is a heart-wrenching yet hopeful work of the profoundest importance.' The Age
'I found Jilya educational, illuminating and contagiously hopeful.' Books+Publishing
'Jilya is a testament to what can be achieved in the face of racism with a loving family, Aboriginal culture, education and determination.' Australian Women's Weekly
From humble beginnings in the remote Pilbara, psychologist and Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman has redefined what's possible at every turn. Despite neither of her parents progressing past primary school, and never having met a psychologist before attending university, Tracy went on to become the first Aboriginal person in Australia to complete a PhD in Clinical Psychology, rising to become one of the country's foremost psychologists. Against significant odds, she commenced her own private business to challenge the way the mental health profession responds to cultural difference, and recently established a charitable foundation and scholarship program to mentor Indigenous people from our highest-risk communities to become psychologists.
In this ground-breaking memoir, Tracy draws on client stories of trauma, heartbreak, hope and connection from her years of practice, offering a no-holds-barred reflection on how the monocultural, one-size-fits-all approach to psychology is failing Aboriginal people and how she's healing those wounds. Jilya is a story of drive and determination, of what it takes to create change when the odds are stacked against you. Above all, it is a story of one woman's love for her people.
