Healing the wounded healer: A guide for counsellors

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dc.contributor.authorGoodings, Heather
dc.contributor.supervisorGulamhusein, Shemine
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-08T14:56:44Z
dc.date.available2026-05-08T14:56:44Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Child and Youth Care
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts MA
dc.description.abstractThis 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.
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduate
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/23877
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Web
dc.subjectwounded healer
dc.subjectpractitioner lived experience
dc.subjectprofessional wellness
dc.subjecthandbook
dc.titleHealing the wounded healer: A guide for counsellors
dc.typeproject

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