Only Their Children's Bodies Died: Two Mothers, Two Stories of Annihilating Grief Transformed

A Soulful Journey

through the transformative properties of grief

Annamarie Fidel-Rice, Ph.D. ~ Psychotherapist and Author

The Alchemy of Grief: Embracing Mourning through Grace is a soulful journey through the transformative properties of grief. Looking at how we approach grief in American society and previous literature published to date, this book presents a new grief model and explores how an experience of loss can be transformed through the alchemical processes of mortificatio, solutio, calcinatio, sublimatio, coagulatio, separatio, and coniunctio. Each has its own healing properties, and each shows up at just the right time. Drawing on alchemy as a support system for conscious grief work, Dr. Fidel-Rice interviews eight grieving souls whose stories powerfully illustrate the alchemical processes. This is an important book for any person dealing with grief and a must have for any therapist working with a grieving patient.  

Co-authored with Jennifer Phelps, Spiritual Proof of Presence is an intimate invitation to follow two courageous grieving mothers who move from crushing despair to hope and renewal, from uncertainty to knowing. These stories take the reader into the complex journey of grieving that is so often denied in our culture. More than a book about loss, this is also a story about hope. As these two remarkable women grieve the deaths of their adult children, they embark on a journey that celebrates the proof of spiritual presence. This book is not just about grief, but also love. It’s of particular interest for anyone who has been taken down to their knees and into the Underworld by a traumatic loss and believed that they could never return to their feet and continue living.