The wounded healer

This paper deals with the emergence, elaboration, and use of the concept of "the wounded healer." The term refers to a person whose personal experienc e of illness and/or trauma has left lingering effects on him-in the form of lessons learned that later served him in ministering to other sufferers, o r in the form of symptoms or characteristics that usefully influenced his t herapeutic endeavors. While such persons and their actions have been noted across the ages, in other cultures, and in many contexts, it was not until the early twentieth century that the patterns in the behaviors of such pers ons were recognized, named, explained, and categorized as "healing." Early in the century, the concept was commonly used in the fields of pastoral cou nseling and analytical psychology; by the end of the century it had been va stly expanded and extended and no longer referred mainly to a healer of psy chological suffering. The term wounded healer is now in common use in areas such as rehabilitation medicine, medical-career choice, Alcoholics Anonymo us and the self-help movement, and chronic-illness support groups, as well as in the original areas of psychotherapy and pastoral care.