The Wounded Healer is a person who has experienced trauma in their life and has conjured up the inner resources needed to outgrow their trauma. The wounded healer is then able to intimately connect with others who are wounded in a similar way in a manner that bestows healing.

This is because the Wounded Healer has a deep understanding of the pain that the other is going through. It is through their own life experience that they have acquired the empathy and intuition to see this pain in others and give them guidance to a solution.

You will find the wounded healer in fields like psychology, counseling, and spirituality. They have a more meta understanding of the world and human psyche that many people do not.

Wounded Healers also offer meaning to those who are suffering. This helps people make peace with the pain they are going through until they inevitably outgrow it.

8 Signs You’re A Wounded Healer

The following are signs that you are a wounded healer:

You have experienced trauma in your life. The wounded healer is someone who has been hurt and has overcome their suffering by taking responsibility in mending themselves, with or without the help of others. If you’ve been traumatized in life and feel inclined to guide people away from experiencing the same pain, or out of that similar pain, chances are you are a wounded healer.

You desire to help others. A new wounded healer has a tendency to almost compulsively bestow helpful wisdom to others they see suffering. The newly anointed can be enthusiastic in spreading their wisdom, even when it’s unwarranted or unsolicited. The seasoned wounded healer is not itching to share any wisdom that others aren’t yet seeking.

You are highly empathic. People who can easily imagine and feel what it would be like to walk in someone else’s shoes are very empathic people. Not only do they have strong use of their empathy (an imagination function), but they are also able to apply their feelings and compassion in a way that helps build an emotional connection with those who are hurt.

Your work involves healing others. You can expect to find wounded healers gravitate towards fields like therapy, medicine, and counseling.

You’ve experienced a Dark Night of the Soul or Spiritual Awakening. It is by going through these inner journeys that you deliver yourself from your personal hell and pain. When you understand how you’ve delivered yourself, you will want to be the healing hand that delivers others.

You struggle with upholding your boundaries. This happens when you put other people’s needs ahead of your own. It also happens when you take responsibility over healing someone, especially without their consent—either way, you can’t help someone without getting hurt too (but we’ll touch on this another time).

You’re a natural priest to others. By priest we mean that you are someone people like to confide in about their inner struggles. Something about you constellates a comfort in the other person that allows them to feel comfortable enough to share with you.

You understand that your struggles carry significance. For example, if you are able to endure tough times with the belief that this is genuinely making you stronger for the future, then you have the emotional resiliency it takes to be a wounded healer.

5 Best Books on The Wounded Healer

The following are the best books on the wounded healer:

“The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society” by Henri J.M. Nouwen

This is a book inspired from pastoral counseling. It argues that wounds are a gift and not a liability. And therapists must be willing to enter their patient’s pain to be able to truly help.

“The Wounded Healer: Countertransference from a Jungian Perspective” by John P. Dourley

This book makes the case that a therapist’s own painful experiences are a source of healing for both the healer and the wounded.

“The Wounded Healer: A Guide for Those Who Work with the Chronically Ill” by Deborah Grassman

The author encourages healthcare professionals to be willing to enter their patient’s pain in order to help them. There are also tips for preventing Compassion Fatigue.

“Wounded Healer of the Soul: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Psychology” by Joan Borysenko

This book offers practical advice for the wounded healer archetype and their personal growth.

“The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society” by Andrew J. Weaver

This is a guide for religious leaders who are wanting to help those who are suffering.

The Wounded Healer Symbol & Meaning

The myth of Chiron is about a centaur who was kind, gentle, and wise guidance for many heros. He was accidentally shot by a poison arrow but due to his half-God and half-mortal constitution, he didn’t die but was left to live life in pain. Chiron is the symbol for the wounded healer.

It wasn’t until Chiron was willing to take on the additional suffering of another, that he was blessed by Zues to be free from his poison and pains. It is through the process of those hurt willing to help the other those who are hurt that both can experience healing.

This shows us that within every healer there is a wounded one, and everyone who is wounded holds a cure to their wound somewhere within. To be a healer you must have already been wounded, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to resonate enough with those who are hurting.

The Meaning of the Wounded Healer Symbol

The wounded healer is meant to symbolize the cure within the pain. That those who have gone through traumatizing suffering are able to help deliver others from their own pain because they have been able to see the light within the darkness.

The resonance we see in others is our psyche, the unconscious, telling us that this person is a symbol for healing. But that alone doesn’t afford us our healing. It is through following our intuitions about this symbol that we can take the inner journey necessary to give the symbol the meaning it needs for us to integrate within ourselves and acquire our healing.

The wounded healer is the person that the wounded’s unconscious minds resonate with. They recognize that this person holds what they need to heal. They are a symbol of the pieces the wounded needs to “return home with the elixir” for their inner journey.

It’s by both having been wounded that we can touch each other’s wounds and have genuine understanding and compassion and the wisdom needed to mend the hurt.

The Importance of the Wounded Healer Symbol

Sometimes the only thing necessary isn’t “solving” the wound, but instead being strong enough to take on the wound—learning how to suffer the wound as a way to outgrow the pain.

To find meaning in suffering is to find meaning in this phase of life.

Healing then becomes an individual’s own affair, where they may recieve guidance through a wounded healer, but the healing is always source generated from one’s own psyche.

It’s the ability to fully accept our wounds, to see Reality and Truth of things that we are able to accept and outgrow our pain. Because through this process we acquire the greatest gift—greater Awareness of Self and the World as it truly is.

Can Only The Wounded Healer Truly Heal?

Within every healer there is a wounded one, and everyone who is wounded holds a cure to their wound somewhere within. To be a healer you must have already been wounded, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to resonate enough with those who are hurting.

Healing then becomes an individual’s own affair, where they may recieve guidance through a wounded healer, but the healing is always source generated from one’s own psyche.

It’s the ability to fully accept our wounds, to see Reality and Truth of things that we are able to accept and outgrow our pain. Because through this process we acquire the greatest gift—greater Awareness of Self and the World as it truly is.

The inner wounding that shocks your personhood is the Call To Adventure. It’s by taking responsibility and accepting the call to The Hero’s Journey that we further individuate and become more Whole.

Psychologically, our unconscious can have us repeat patterns where we unintentionally socialize others to treat us a certain way, until we finally break free from these unhealthy patterns. These are unhealthy ideas of our existence that Life will continue to serve us until we break the cycle by accepting the Call To Adventure and gain the Consiousness earned through The Hero’s Journey.

The solution to the problem is always an individual one. This is why the wounded psyche must want to heal itself, it can’t be forced to heal by others.

What Did Jung Say About The Wounded Healer?

Carl Jung described the Wounded Healer archetype as a crucial part of the process of individuation, or psychological maturity. Although Jung didn’t exactly refer to them as “Wounded Healers”, there is evidence that he referred to them as “Wounded Physicians”.

The Wounded Healer is given special consideration becuase they have already outgrown their struggles by undergoing a spiritual transformation that burned away the immature and unnecessary parts of their personhood.

According to Jung, the wounded healer was a representation of the collective unconscious. In terms of Spiral Dynamics, or Ego Development, this makes sense because part of human development is socializing the human animal to being accepted in society. This means that every society has its own form of values and expectations that would give each society its own category of Wounded Healer since the trauma’s from one society can be different from another. Although universally the wounds come from some form of betrayal, the approach can vary.

Jung also believed that the myth of Chiron and Jesus Christ were notable symbols for the Wounded Healer through their willingness to take on others’ suffering despite carrying their own. This makes them symbols of compassion, empathy, rebirth, meaning, etc.

How To Become A Wounded Healer

Step 1 – Embrace Your Wounds. This involves accepting that you are in pain and that you have been traumatized. You admit the need to take responsibility for healing your wounds. Some will intuitively find themselves thinking that “getting through this means I can help others get through this too”.

Step 2 – Get Help. When dealing with extreme trauma and pain, which can be referred to as an “existential crisis”, it is advised that you seek therapy for professional help. These are people who can guide you through the healing process.

Step 3 – Build Empathy and Compassion. This comes easily when you have experienced the traumas life brings and you have taken the time to reflect and introspect. When you become more aware of yourself internally, by examining your thoughts and emotions, you will build your empathy and compassion.

Step 4 – Learn About Your Struggles. While you are hurting, it’s important that you bring yourself to a stable environment and listen to your intuition. Walk through a bookstore or look through YouTube and pay attention to anything that your consciousness points out to you. Whatever that “pops out” or subtly resonates with you will be something you need to look into.

Step 5 – Self-Care. Your own psyche will work to help you outgrow your pain over time, so long as you are actively seeking to overcome your pain as opposed to being consumed by it. When you finally overcome your suffering, you will still need to practice lots of self-care in order to prevent burnout from connecting with others who looking up to you as their wounded healer.

Who Is Chiron The Wounded Healer?

The myth of Chiron is about a centaur who was kind, gentle, and wise guidance for many heros. He was accidentally shot by a poison arrow but due to his half-God and half-mortal constitution, he didn’t die but was left to live life in pain. Chiron is the symbol for the wounded healer.

It wasn’t until Chiron was willing to take on the additional suffering of another, that he was blessed by Zues to be free from his poison and pains. It is through the process of those hurt willing to help the other those who are hurt that both can experience healing.

This shows us that within every healer there is a wounded one, and everyone who is wounded holds a cure to their wound somewhere within. To be a healer you must have already been wounded, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to resonate enough with those who are hurting.

Wounds are what connects us to our inner journey and help initiate us to our outer journey. The wounds we take on then change us.

Chiron in Psychology

The wounded healer is meant to symbolize the cure within the pain. That those who have gone through traumatizing suffering are able to help deliver others from their own pain because they have been able to see the light within the darkness.

The resonance we see in others is our psyche, the unconscious, telling us that this person is a symbol for healing. But that alone doesn’t afford us our healing. It is through following our intuitions about this symbol that we can take the inner journey necessary to give the symbol the meaning it needs for us to integrate within ourselves and acquire our healing.

The wounded healer is the person that the wounded’s unconscious minds resonate with. They recognize that this person holds what they need to heal. They are a symbol of the pieces the wounded needs to “return home with the elixir” for their inner journey.

It’s by both having been wounded that we can touch each other’s wounds and have genuine understanding and compassion and the wisdom needed to mend the hurt.

Chiron in Astrology

Astrology is said to provide people with insights on personalities, relationships, and different paths of life. In astrology, Chiron is a small asteroid that orbits Uranus and Saturn. Chiron is often referred to as the “healing centaur”.

Chiron symbolizes the wounded parts of ourselves that need healing and the parts of us that has the potential for healing others. This archetype is associated with those who have undergone painful trauma in their lives and an inclination to help others using their painful experiences.

Chiron is also associated with Virgo, which is known for being detail-oriented and healing properties. People with strong Chiron placements are known for their ability to heal others and gravitate to helper professions.

NEXT READ: What is the Wounded Healer Archetype & Theory (Astrology, Jungian Counselling)