The Archetype of the Wounded Healer as the cornerstone for the analytical encounter
A presentation by Flavio De Grandis
In Fundamental Questions of Psychotherapy, Jung (1966) emphasizes how the analytical encounter is a dialectical process, par excellence, in which the analyst participates as much as the client. Jung believes that the client can only gain his inner security after experiencing the security of the relationship with his analyst as a human being (ibid, 1966). The therapeutic relationship thus requires a great deal of involvement and the therapist‘s countertransference is an important and creative element in assisting this process. This involvement will inevitably lead both analyst and client to be infected by each other’s unconscious material. As Jung points out:
The psychotherapist… should clearly understand that psychic infections… are in fact the concomitants of his work, and thus fully in accord with the instinctive disposition of his own life. This realization also gives him the right attitude to his patient. The patient then means something to him personally, and this provides the most favourable basis for treatment. (Jung 1966, paras. 364-5)
This presentation will discuss the archetype of the wounded healer and will invite us to take a deeper look into one’s relationship while caring for others in the analytical setting. Marie-Louise Von Franz believes that the wounded healer is THE archetype of the Self and is the core of all genuine healing procedures. Only when the polarities of the archetype are integrated in both analyst and client true healing is possible. This presentation will draw upon literature review on the wounded healer and some clinical material to illustrate the importance for the analyst (or any other care professional) to confront and acknowledge his /her own vulnerabilities , projections and his/her relationship to power to then question his/her true motivations in chosing to be a care professional.
About the Presenter
Flavio De Grandis Flavio De Grandis is a Jungian psychotherapist working in private practice in Currumbin Valley, Queensland. He is currently a candidate in training as a Jungian Analyst with the Australia New Zealand Society of Jungian Analysts (ANZSJA). Flavio’s background is in physiotherapy and philosophy, where he worked for many years with different forms of body awareness and movement, and with a deep interest in the relationship between mind and body (psyche/soma)