Healing Through Wonder: How Awe Restores Us After Trauma and Loss
Jan 2026 · Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Ebook
256
Pages
About this ebook
Val Walker's profound journey through trauma and spiritual exploration is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. This book beautifully captures the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of connection and awe. A must-read for anyone seeking healing and understanding. -- Shari Botwin, LCSW, author of Thriving After Trauma and Stolen Childhoods
Val Walker's story of healing began in her darkest moment.
Homeless, running from a violent partner, and battling suicidal depression, she found herself sitting by a river holding a bottle of pills in one hand and a bottle of red wine to wash them down in the other. Out of the twilight sky a majestic blue heron circled and landed just a few feet away. Something in the heron's piercing eyes caused her to stop swallowing the pills. In that moment, she realized that there was just too much beauty and magic in the world to give up.
Thus began a decades long quest to understand how wondrous encounters can spark healing from trauma and grief. This inspiring guide shares healing stories sparked by wondrous experiences and unpacks the neuroscience that explains how wonder helps our brains and bodies heal.
Val Walker's story of healing began in her darkest moment.
Homeless, running from a violent partner, and battling suicidal depression, she found herself sitting by a river holding a bottle of pills in one hand and a bottle of red wine to wash them down in the other. Out of the twilight sky a majestic blue heron circled and landed just a few feet away. Something in the heron's piercing eyes caused her to stop swallowing the pills. In that moment, she realized that there was just too much beauty and magic in the world to give up.
Thus began a decades long quest to understand how wondrous encounters can spark healing from trauma and grief. This inspiring guide shares healing stories sparked by wondrous experiences and unpacks the neuroscience that explains how wonder helps our brains and bodies heal.
Val Walker's profound journey through trauma and spiritual exploration is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. This book beautifully captures the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of connection and awe. A must-read for anyone seeking healing and understanding. -- Shari Bo...
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About the author
Val Walker is a rehabilitation consultant and blogger for Psychology Today, Social Self, and Health Story Collaborative. She is the author of The Art of Comforting, which won the Nautilus Gold Medal Book Award, and 400 Friends and No One to Call. With a Master of Science degree in rehabilitation counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University, she has led support groups for twenty-four years for people living with chronic illness, disability, grief, and trauma. She lives in Boston and teaches and speaks throughout New England at human services agencies, medical centers, hospices, universities, and community education programs.
Val's articles, interviews, and advice quotes have appeared in national publications such as TIME, AARP, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Coping with Cancer, Boston Globe Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and others. Since 2020, media appearances include Parade, Next Avenue, Rewire, Boomer Magazine, Babyboomer.com, Healthy Aging, Caregiver Space, Caregiver Solutions, and Sweety High.
Val's articles, interviews, and advice quotes have appeared in national publications such as TIME, AARP, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Coping with Cancer, Boston Globe Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and others. Since 2020, media appearances include Parade, Next Avenue, Rewire, Boomer Magazine, Babyboomer.com, Healthy Aging, Caregiver Space, Caregiver Solutions, and Sweety High.
Val Walker is a rehabilitation consultant and blogger for Psychology Today, Social Self, and Health Story Collaborative. She is the author of The Art of Comforting, which won the Nautilus Gold Medal Book Award, and 400 Friends and No One to Call. With a Master of Science degree in rehabilitation ...
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