Abstract: A qualitative research study, aimed at exploring the wounded healer and the way in which this historic archetype is applied to the modern day therapist's personal and professional development and practice. The literature that has been published has provided various hypotheses about the influences of being a wounded healer on both the therapist and the work carried out with the client. The claims made however are not conclusive and there appeared to be very few empirical studies to support them. The aim of this study was to explore 'The Therapeutic Use of the Self: The Personal and Professional Journey of the Wounded Healer", so as to give a voice to those who identify as wounded healers and may be considered as a marginalised and disempowered group. A sample of eight participants were used, a combination of psychotherapists and psychologists. Data collection was carried out in the form of one-ta-one semi-structured, open-ended interviews which were then analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five master-themes were identified with associated sub-themes. The findings indicate that personal experiences inform professional practice. There appeared to be both contributions made to and barriers existing in, the participants' professional worlds when it was chosen to work in a way that involved drawing from their own suffering and woundedness to inform their practice. These seemed to be mediated by the context in which the participants found themselves. The study makes a case for the theory that the therapists' own suffering and woundedness can be a great strength and a resource in their work with clients and can facilitate healing in both the client and the therapist
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:594192 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Benjamin, Emma Louise |
| Publisher | City University London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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