Healing's Nonlinearity: Healing Narratives of Therapists-In-Training Who Self-Identify as Wounded Healers

Date of Award

5-1-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Karina Therese G. Fernandez, PhD

Abstract

Due to the stigma therapists-in-training face within the field due to their woundedness and the dearth of psychological literature on the healing of wounded healers (WH), this study examined the healing journeys of nine therapists-in-training who self-identify as WH. McAdam and McLean’s Narrative Identity (2013) was utilized to analyze the healing narratives gathered from nine semi-structured interviews with therapists-in-training. Results dwelled on the healing narratives and how these shaped the identification and development of these future practitioners. While the narratives differed among participants, the healing narratives of therapists-in-training were generally composed of four chapters: (a) the wounded-client identity and its wounds, (b) entering the counseling field emerges the healer-therapist identity, (c) healing’s nonlinearity transforming into a fluid wounded healer, and (d) the healing journey and fluid wounded healer identity continues. These never ending and nonlinear journeys shaped how therapists-in-training perceived as well as constructed or deconstructed their identification with their dual-identities, influencing their practice. Additionally, their healing journeys led to their development as budding therapists who continue to heal from their woundedness. This study hopes to contribute to the dearth of literature regarding therapists-in-training who self-identify as WH through the emphasized healing dimension. Moreover, this study may both lessen the stigma surrounding therapists-in-training’s woundedness as well as help colleagues, educators, mentors, and supervisors within the counseling field to better help these trainees through the creation of open spaces, classes, and training programs that may help in their well-being and utilize their woundedness to facilitate rather than impair their therapeutic ability.

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