Coming January 8, 2026 with Bloomsbury Publishing
Healing Through Wonder
How Awe Restores Us After Trauma and Loss
BOOKS
The Art of Comforting (Penguin Random House, 2010)
We live in an increasingly “virtual” world in which it can be tempting to skip making that true, human connection with someone in pain. Even though our thoughts might be with them, we lack the confidence to reach out, worrying that we will say or do the “wrong” thing.
400 Friends and No One to Call (Central Recovery Press, 2020)
We can be well connected, with 400 friends on Facebook and still have no one to count on. Ironically, despite social media, social isolation is a growing epidemic in the United States. The National Science Foundation recently reported that the number of Americans with no close friends has tripled since 1985.
Healing Through Wonder: How Awe Restores Us After Trauma and Loss
Coming January 8, 2026 with Bloomsbury Publishing
Read more about Healing Through Wonder
Advance Praise
“Healing Through Wonder, is a powerful work — urging readers to draw upon their own resilience, particularly a sense of wonder as they cope with loss. This book is a gift to anyone who is bereaved.” — Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, Senior Vice-President for Grief Programs, The Hospice Foundation of America, Author, Disenfranchised Grief, Grief Is a Journey, When We Die
“Healing Through Wonder is a luminous testament to the transformative power of awe. Blending personal vulnerability with compelling research, this book invites readers into a journey where wonder becomes a profound source of healing and hope after trauma and loss.” — Scott T. Allison, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Richmond, Editor of Heroism Science and the Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies, Author, Reel Heroes
“Walker’s personal experience with trauma is both moving and beautifully written. Her study of awe as a source of healing for herself and others will bring hope, help, and pave a better future for many.” — Kelsey Crowe, PhD, Co-author, There Is No Good Card for This, and Founder of Empathy Bootcamp
“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, Keynote speaker, Media Contributor and Author of “Thriving After Trauma: Stories of Living and Healing,” and “Stolen Childhoods: Thriving After Abuse.”
“Healing Through Wonder propels us toward health by reminding us to step outside of ourselves and to celebrate our collective humanity and the wonder of the world.— Annie Brewster, MD, Executive Director and Founder, The Health Story Collaborative, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, Author, The Healing Power of Storytelling
“Healing Through Wonder honors the truth that grief is not something to fix, but something to live within—and that awe and wonder can create space for healing without forcing it. Val Walker captures how openness and connection can gently accompany the grieving process, especially through the voices of those who have lived it.” — Glen Lord, CEO, Peer Support Community Partners
“Val Walker is gracious enough to open up about her own experiences and show us that the space that exists between trauma and self-compassion has the potential to make us feel comfortable in who we are and how far we have come”. — Lindsay Weisner, Psy. D., Co-Author of Ten Steps to Finding Happy: A guide to permanent satisfaction, Author of the Psychology Today Blog “The Venn Diagram Life.”
“In a world that often demands neat answers and swift resolutions, Healing Through Wonder offers something profoundly different: a compassionate embrace of mystery, awe, and the slow unfolding of healing. Val Walker’s exquisite blend of personal memoir, neuroscience, and community stories honors trauma and grief not as brokenness to be ‘fixed’ but as wounds that call for gentle reverence and presence. This book reminds us that the path to wholeness needs courage but also moments of breathless wonder—moments that open us to life’s beauty and connection.”
— Antonieta Contreras, Author of How Deep Is the Wound? and Traumatization and Its Aftermath
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION FOR THE ART OF COMFORTING BOOK
Coalition of Visionary Resources Book Award, First Runner Up, Self-help Category, 2011
