the wounded healer

On Tuesday this week, Fresh Air (Terri Gross, NPR) broadcast an interview with Dr. Marisa Weiss, a breast oncologist, who also was diagnosed with breast cancer. (http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=131760656) She is the founder of http://www.breastcancer.org/ The research and health information that Dr. Weiss provides, such as the connection between hormones in our food and the rise in incidence of breast cancer in women, is thought-provoking.

This interview was of special interest to me because I was recently asked to help facilitate a young women's breast cancer support group for the Cancer Support Community in St. Louis. I am honored to be a part of it. For additional information about breast cancer support or general cancer support that is innovative and holistic, please check out their website at http://wellnesscommunitystl.org/

The interview also struck me because of my relatively recent foray into private practice. I've been thinking more about Jung's concept of the wounded healer. Though I'm not a Jungian expert or scholar, I understand this archetype to explain the way many of us who are in helping professions are ourselves 'wounded' - like Dr. Weiss herself having breast cancer and trying to heal from that at the same time she is attempting to heal others. Or in the way that when I see clients, sometimes the life issues they face or personality qualities that challenge them may mirror my own. I am constantly humbled by trying to stay aware of my own emotional/spiritual baggage and not project my unresolved issues on others.

Dr. Weiss's breast cancer and her physical healing is unique to her, it's like, but not the same as, each of her patients. The same goes for a therapist and her clients. The same goes for all us in our day to day lives as we try to help one another along despite our imperfections and pain.

So on a tangential note, this reminds me of a staple of my growing up - the show M*A*S*H. I was always so drawn to the psychiatrist, Dr. Sidney Friedman, who made appearances once a season or so. Who knows what my kid's brain hooked into in him and what I really understood about the show and war and surviving and each of those doctors and nurses truly representing the wounded healer, but I do know this, when Dr. Sidney Friedman said, "Boys and girls, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice," I knew it meant that sometimes the best way to heal is to have a little fun. I hope you have a fun day!