The wounded healer and his apprentice

Chiron, the wounded healer, and his apprentice Achilles, are coming up as strong archetypes for many healers and helpers at the moment. This is an opportunity to heal your deepest wounds and weaknesses as a healer/helper…

The wounded healer’s drive to heal often comes from their wounded self. This is the part of us that heals others in order to heal ourselves. We see ourselves in others and by rescuing/healing others, we hope to heal ourselves.

If you’ve ever had a moment when you’ve wondered why you are able to heal and help others, but not yourself, this is your chiron-wound. The chiron wound blesses us with a healer’s wisdom and insight that only empathy can give us, but it can also make us abandon ourselves in our God-like quest to be everyone else’s hero.

The chiron-achilles wound can be blind spot, a wound you can’t see or understand, even though it may be obvious to others, some of whom may exploit this wound. For many, this wound results in martyrdom and self-neglect. For others, it involves active self-harm. Some call this wound “the healer’s shadow.”

When you stop hating, neglecting, or ‘not-seeing/hearing’ some part of yourself that is crying out to be loved, you finally pass the healer/helper/hero’s ultimate test: rescuing yourself with self-love, self-care, self-healing, and the acceptance of love and support from others, with healthy boundaries and self-respect. In other words, you walk your talk.

If you are a wounded healer, will you still want to heal others after you’ve healed yourself? You might completely reinvent yourself and take on a new identity, purpose in life, or job description. But if you do continue as a healer/helper, you can be fairly guaranteed your approach will be very different because the drive to help and heal no longer comes from your wound, your inner pain, or your martyred, heroic sense of responsibility and invincibility.

Are you a wounded healer? What if the desire to help and heal came from a place of joy, light, fullness, completeness, stillness, self-love and peace within yourself? What might be possible for you then?