What is a wounded Healer?

Wounded healer is an archetypal dynamic that psychologist Carl Jung used to describe a phenomenon that may take place in the relationship between analyst and analysand: 'Jung...warned of its dangers as well as its necessity'.

(Archetype:is a universally understood symbol or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated.)

In Greek mythology, the centaur 'Chiron was known as the "Wounded Healer" because he was poisoned by one of Hercules's arrows' by dropping it on himself. Unfortunately, 'Chiron was unable to heal himself and so suffered the pain of an incurable wound'.

It is also possible that Jung derives the term "wounded healer" from the ancient Greek legend of Asclepius, a physician who in identification of his own wounds creates a sanctuary atEpidaurus in order to treat others. By contrast, the figure of 'Apollo Medicus could be said to subvert the ancient folkloric motif known in Jungian discourse as the "wounded healer": the physician whose "own suffering and vulnerability...contribute crucially to the capacity to heal"'

Practial Reasoning:

The following is an example of the "wounded healer phenomena" between a analyst and his/her analysand:

• The analyst, through the nature of his profession is consciously aware of his own personal wounds. However, these wounds may be activated in certain situations, especially if his analysand's wounds are similar to his own. (This can be the basis of countertransference).
• In the meantime, the wounded analysand "inner healer" is unconscious to him, but potentially available.
• The analysand's wounds activate those of the analyst. The analyst realizes what is taking place, and either consciously or unconsciously passes this awareness back to his analysand.
• In this way, an unconscious relationship takes place between analyst and Client.

 This type of depth psychology can be potentially dangerous, because the analyst is vulnerable to being infected by his analysand's wounds, or having his or her wounds reopened. Also, the analyst must have an ongoing relationship with the unconscious, otherwise he or she could identify with the "healer archetype", and create an inflated ego.

Keeping an open heart, and on going relationship with consciousness, being a wounded healer has helped me personally grow closer to the universal energy of all that is, to myself and to humanity itself as a whole. I work very hard every day with my inner guidance system, and open heart to keep my ego at bay. It is a constant work in progress.

 That said, I am thankful to experience and have experienced everything in my life, wounds, scars, ups and downs, for without it; I would be incomplete.

Namaste.