Healing Through Wonder: How Awe & Nature Transform Trauma and Grief

Host Dave Roberts introduces the Teaching Journeys podcast and interviews rehabilitation consultant and author Val Walker about her book “Healing Through Wonder: How Awe Restores Us After Trauma and Loss.” Walker describes a lifelong sense of wonder and how neuroscience and positive psychology research validate awe as a healing, resilience-building trait. She outlines the Awe Experience Scale criteria, including vastness, altered time, physical sensations, oneness, inexplicability, and the “small self,” and emphasizes cultivating everyday awe and sharing awe stories for lasting benefits. Walker recounts a pivotal late-1970s moment when a great blue heron interrupted a suicide attempt after domestic violence and grief, inspiring lifelong heron symbolism. She summarizes four profiles in her book involving awe turning points. Walker also discusses her Healing Through Wonder YouTube storytelling channel and provides websites for contact and resources.Val’s Bio and Contact InformationVal Walker is a rehabilitation consultant and blogger for Psychology Today and the Health Story Collaborative. She is the author of The Art of Comforting, a Nautilus Book Award Gold Winner, 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 and workshops for twenty-five years for people living with illness, disability, grief, and trauma. She lives in Boston and speaks throughout New England at human services agencies, medical centers, hospices, and universities. Social Media Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/val-walker-11628b21/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579292450531#X: https://x.com/ValWalkerAuthorYouTube Healing Through Wonder Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WonderforLivingAuthor website: https://valwalkerauthor.comHealing Through Wonder website: https://healingthroughwonder.comTo connect with Dave, go to davidrobsertsmsw.com