Healing the wounded healer: A guide for counsellors
Date
2026
Authors
Goodings, Heather
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Abstract
This project explores the wounded healer archetype within child and youth care (CYC) and clinical counselling practice, examining how practitioners lived experiences of woundedness influence professional effectiveness and functionality. Drawing on Jungian depth psychology, counselling literature, and CYC perspectives, this project critically examines woundedness as both a potential vulnerability and a source of strength in the helping professions. While the literature identifies unexamined woundedness as contributing to professional boundary issues, countertransference, burnout, and practitioner impairment, it also highlights the potential to deepen empathy, altruism, and therapeutic presence when woundedness is consciously acknowledged and integrated. The project culminates in the development of Healing the Wounded Healer Handbook: A Guide for Counsellors, a practical, manualized resource designed for counsellors working in a community-based counselling practice. The handbook integrates reflective exercises, somatic practices, mindfulness, and Jungian approaches to support ongoing self-awareness, professional sustainability, and ethical practice. Overall, this project seeks to contribute to CYC scholarship by normalizing practitioner woundedness, reducing stigma, and offering practical, trauma-informed strategies that support both practitioner wellness and relational practice.
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Keywords
wounded healer, practitioner lived experience, professional wellness, handbook