The Paradox of Being a Wounded Healer: Henri J.M. Nouwen’s Contribution to Pastoral Theology

Abstract

This article is the first in a series of two dealing with Henri Nouwen's contribution to pastoral care. The present article focuses on the impact of cognitive dissonance and the role it plays in pastors becoming constrained in their ministry. The point of departure is that during the past two decades, pastors have been subjected to profound changes. While pastors view their involvement with people in the social and faith communities in which they live and work as guiding people towards a life of wholeness and integrity, they themselves, because of their own inner woundedness, struggle to live a life of wholeness. This article investigates how pastors can act congruently and with integrity in a world that has been profoundly changed by a shift from a modern to a postmodern paradigm. This reflection explores the ancient Greek mythological origins of the concept 'wounded healer'. It also shows that, in its utilisation by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, the concept became a metaphor. This insight leads to a discussion of how Henri Nouwen applied the significance of the metaphor to pastoral ministry. The discussion takes on the form of certain relevant biographical side notes on Nouwen's contribution to pastoral theology. The article concludes with an exposition of Nouwens's use of the metaphor in his book, The wounded healer: Ministry in contemporary society. HTS HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

“Walking wounded or wounded healer?” Does personal experience of mental health problems help or hinder mental health practice? A review of the literature

“…Carl Jung in his "Fundamental Questions of Psychotherapy" (1979) first attributed the metaphor of the wounded healer in therapeutic practice to describe a facet of a therapist's relationship with their patients (Nolte and Dreyer, 2010). Jung described this in depth stating that the analyst "quite literally takes over the sufferings of his patient and shares them with him" and furthermore it is the analyst's "own hurt that gives him the measure of his own power to heal" (Laskowski and Pellicore, 2002, p. 403).…”

Was C. G. Jung a Shaman?

“…Jung was a wounded healer [24,47] but does that make him a shaman? I don't think it does because the concept of wounded healer is by no means exclusive to shamans, as the life of the catholic priest Henri Nouwen [48] attests. Jung's crisis in the aftermath from his break from Freud has structural similarities with a shamanic initiatory crisis insofar as it was a temporary regression from which Jung emerged, having encountered entities from the unconscious and having acquired the bounty of valuable teleological insights.…”

Exploring Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa African pastors’ well-being, calling and healing: An interactive qualitative analysis

“…Those in distress want to heal their wounds, and others carry scars from their healed wounds. Nevertheless, most people are healthy most of the time and wish to live fulfilled lives and to function optimally (Nolte & Dreyer 2010;Peterson 2006). In this article, the construct 'healing' is used in relation to the idea of Wessels and Müller (2013) that people interpret meaningful experiences as they interact within their networks (work-life).…”