support books

Below you find the complete list of Nathalie’s favourite grief support books, including a collection of books suggested by members of our peer support group, May We All Heal. Please join this group here.
When Grief is Raw
- Grieving Parents: Surviving Loss as a Couple by Nathalie Himmelrich
- Surviving My First Year of Child Loss: Personal Stories from Grieving Parents by Nathalie Himmelrich
- Navigating the Unknown: An Immediate Guide When Experiencing the Loss of Your Baby by Amie Lands
Grief and Healing
- Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief by Joanne Cacciatore
- Celebrating Pregnancy Again: Restoring the lost joys of pregnancy after the loss of a child by Franchesca Cox
- Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby by Deborah L. Davis
- Far as the Curse Is Found: Searching for God in Infertility, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth by Abigail Waldron
- Ghostbelly by Elizabeth Heineman
- Grief Reiki by Sharon Ehlers
- Grief Diaries: Loss by Suicide by Lynda Cheldelin Fell and Sharon Ehlers
- Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Child by Lynda Cheldelin Fell et all
- Grief Diaries: Loss of an Infant by Lynda Cheldelin Fell
- Grief Diaries: Will We Survive by Lynda Cheldelin Fell,
Daphne Greer, and Barbara J Hopkinson - Grieving with Hope: Finding Comfort as You Journey Through Loss by Samuel J. IV Hodges and Kathy Leonard
- Healing a Parent’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Child Dies by Alan D. Wolfelt
- How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies by Therese A. Rando
- It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand by Megan Devine
- The AfterGrief: Finding Your Way Along the Long Arc of Loss by Hope Edelman
- The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing – A Psychology Guide to Physical Health and Coping by Mary-Frances O’Connor
- The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary-Frances O’Connor
- The Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman
- Three Minus One: Stories of Parents’ Love & Loss by Sean Hanish and Brooke Warner
- Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart by Alan D. Wolfelt
Trauma and Healing
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
- The Biology of Trauma: How the Body Holds Fear, Pain, and Overwhelm, and How to Heal It by Aimie Apigian
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine
- Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body by Peter A. Levine
- In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine
- Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Working with Traumatic Memory by Peter A. Levine
- An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey by Peter A. Levine
- The Brain Partnership Toolbox for Addiction, Mental Health, and Trauma Professionals: Practical Neuroplasticity Tools for Resilience, Regulation and Compassionate Leadership in Trauma-Exposed Work by Kate Truitt
- Healing in Your Hands: Self-Havening Practices to Harness Neuroplasticity, Heal Traumatic Stress, and Build Resilience by Kate Truitt
- Keep Breathing: A Psychologist’s Intimate Journey Through Loss, Trauma, and Rediscovering Life by Kate Truitt
- Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation by Janina Fisher
- The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté
- Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds by Thomas Hübl
Polyvagal Theory (Nervous System, Somatic)
- The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation by Deb Dana
- Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices by Deb Dana
- Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana
- Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety by Deb Dana
- Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us by Stephen Porges and Seth Porges
Childhood Trauma / Developmental Trauma / Complex PTSD
- Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma by Pete Walker
- Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship by Lawrence Heller and Aline LaPierre
Creative Healing
- May We All Heal: Playbook For Creative Healing After Loss by Nathalie Himmelrich
- Avery’s Garden: Angel Inspired heARTwork for Bereaved Families (Volume 1) by Tara Denz
- Facets of Grief: A Creative Workbook for Grieving Mothers by Franchesca Cox
- When You Grieve from A to Z: Coloring Through Grief and the Alphabet by Ginny Limer
Grieving Mothers
- Sunshine After the Storm by Alexa H Bigwarfe
- Invisible Mothers: When Love Doesn’t Die by Emily R Long
- You Are Not Alone: Love Letters From Loss Mom to Loss Mom by Emily R Long
Loss of a Mother
- Motherless Mothers: How Losing a Mother Shapes the Parent You Become by Hope Edelman
- Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman
- Letters from Motherless Daughters: Words of Courage, Grief, and Healing by Hope Edelman
Grieving Fathers
- A Guide for Fathers: When a Baby Dies by Tim Nelson
- From Father to Father: Letters From Loss Dad to Loss Dad by Emily R Long
- Grieving Dads: To the Brink and Back by Kelly Farley and David DiCola
- The Griefcase: A Man’s Guide to Healing and Moving Forward in Grief by R Glenn Kelly
Loss of a Father
The Fatherless Daughter Project: Understanding Our Losses and Reclaiming Our Lives by Denna Babul and Karin Luise
Supporting Children
- Healing Your Grieving Heart for Kids: 100 Practical Ideas, Alan D. Wolfelt
- Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children, Bryan Mellonie and Robert Ingpen
- Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss by Chuck DeKlyen and Pat Schwiebert
Children’s Books
- Always My Twin by Valerie R. Samuels
- I Miss You: A First Look at Death, Pat Thomas
- Someone Came Before You by Pat Schwiebert
- Something Happened by Cathy Blanford
- The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
- We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert
- When Children Grieve from A to Z: Coloring Through Grief and the Alphabet by Ginny Limer
Spiritual, Religious, Inspirational
- A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss by Jerry Sittser
- A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
- Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope by Mary Beth Chapman and Ellen Vaughn
- I’m Not Dead, I’m Different: Kids in Spirit Teach Us About Living a Better Life on Earth by Hollister Rand
- Joy Cometh in the Morning: A Story of Healing from the Loss of a Child by Fran C. Hafen
- Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff
- Understanding Death: An Introduction to Ideas of Self and the Afterlife in World Religions by Angela Sumegi
- Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born by Robert Schwartz
Memoirs
- An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken
- Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
- Holding Avery: A Memoir by Heidi Chandler
- I Will Carry You by Angie Smith
- Love Mom: A Mother’s Journey from Loss to Hope by Cynthia Baseman
- Rare Bird: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Anna Whiston-Donaldson
Journals
- Life Without the Baby Journal: Redefining Life, Self, and Motherhood After Loss by Emily R Long
- On Coming Alive: Journaling Through Grief by Lexi Behrnd
Links on this page are affiliate links – all proceeds go to the Grieving Parents Support Association (GPSA) in order to donate our resource books for parents in need. Read more about our Affiliate Disclosure here.