A wounded healer, as described by Carl Jung, is someone that goes out to help others so that they will feel helped as well. This can include people that seek careers in teaching, writing, in the medical field and more. When you are someone that wants to help others because they are suffering from things in their past, chances are that you have problems in your past that you need healed from.
Here are some of the ways that you might know you are a wounded healer:
- Giving Advice
When you go to others to give them advice, you might feel that you might feel that you are giving the advice to yourself, allowing yourself to heal along with them.
- Wanting to Give Help
Chances are that you are someone that has known since you were little that you wanted to help others, and this makes you happy.
- Fear and Excitement of Work
When you work and do a project, you are fearful people will hate it but at the same time, you are excited by what it means to you.
- Struggle and Truth
You think that you have to struggle because if you don’t struggle how can you be happy? You feel that suffering makes your mind clearer.
- Your Work, Your Life
You work hard and sometimes it becomes your life. You know that you have to put up boundaries so that you don’t work constantly.
- Helping Too Much
You are someone that is always helping others. You will never want someone to work things out for themselves because you want to help them.
- Criticism Hurts
Maybe you are someone that feels hurt when they are criticized. This can hurt even more than you expect that it should.
- Thankfulness
You know that the things that you went through are hard, but you are thankful for the lessons that they taught you along the way. You wouldn’t be who you are without the lessons.
- Working on You
You never stop working on who you are. You want to love others more and be aware of what they need. You want to keep growing and being the best, you can be.
- Fixing All Things
Chances are that you are someone that wants to fix anything and everything. You are someone that is over-dedicated, and you work too hard. Having a personal life is hard.
- Working Towards Goals
You are someone that works toward their goals, when you aren’t fixing others. You love others more than yourself, but you still want to be successful in what you do.
‘Helping too much’ sounds dangerously close to martyrdom. We must remember that self-care is not selfish; it’s essential for effective caregiving.
‘Wounded healer’? More like ‘wounded enabler.’ There’s a fine line between helping and hindering personal growth in others—let’s not pretend otherwise.
I find this notion rather naive. Can one truly heal others while remaining unhealed themselves? It seems like a recipe for disaster more than anything else.
What an enlightening piece! The notion of turning one’s wounds into healing for others is truly inspiring and reflects a deeper understanding of human interconnectedness.
This article beautifully articulates the concept of the wounded healer. It’s a profound reminder that our struggles often shape our desire to assist others. Kudos to the author for shedding light on such an intricate relationship!
While I appreciate the insights, it seems overly romanticized. Are we to believe that pain automatically translates into empathy? That’s a rather simplistic view of human psychology.
If only all life lessons came with a manual! But then again, who would read it? Perhaps I’d still be trying to figure out if I’m the healer or just very good at putting on Band-Aids!
‘Thankfulness’ as an outcome of suffering is compelling, but does anyone else feel that this perspective glosses over the trauma involved? It’s not just about being grateful; it’s about healing too.
‘Working too hard and fixing everything’—sounds like my last relationship! Maybe I should have called it ‘the wounded doormat.’
I think it’s important to differentiate between genuine desire to help and codependency. The idea of ‘fixing’ others can often lead to personal detriment.