The Wounded Healer: Counter-Transference from a Jungian Perspective (Routledge Mental Health Classic Editions)

I bought this when while I was in counseling therapy and the transference / counter-transference issues were causing me an immense amount of turmoil because there is nothing that prepares the patient for the feelings they will experience for their counselors. I personally felt a great deal of guilt over those feelings and was searching for concise answers as to why I was having them. This book gives great first hand accounts of some of the most common feelings and explains what is most likely the root cause of those feelings for the patient. But it doesn't stop there, the author also gives you insight into the feelings the counselor is experiencing and why he/she has those feelings. If I had to give one negative comment ... it would be that you need to perservere past the Jungian theory explaination and comparison.

This is for the person studying to be a psychiatrist or psychologist and is a cumberson book, for someone working on their doctorate or a residency. I just could not get into it. I once taught psych-nursing and there are much better things to read that are lighter than this one. I like Jung, but he is a deeper topic that should be reserved for the library or study.

I enjoyed this book entirely. I was able to easily understand some concepts about this topic that I had missed before when reading older books directly authored by Jung. I was intrigued by the brilliance of this perspective and agree with the presented concepts and interpretations whole heartedly. I was relieved to not be required to decipher any metaphoric distractions. If presented, they were explained so as not to bog down the smooth flow of the read.

was not as good as I was lead to believe

Great book for social workers

Really helped me understand projection. Great book for all in the helping professions!

Great book!

A friend recommended this to me.I wanted not only to better understand counter transference, just the term, but also to better understand her as she engaged in her field. I have a perspective as her friend on what therapy does to her in the process as I see her pass through time.She suffers, her issues come forth, she engages in processing this.It's clear. Also of course was articulating to her that some of the terms and meanings of this counter-transference process were a bit unclear to me. She recommended reading around transference as well. And so I finished my second read last evening. Might need another on "the self" to better understand where one is going, because that's still something that remains less than crystal. ( the book relaying that after these shared processes you are arriving at self) It was edifying.In teaching kids there is a lot about the actual doing that never gets into print I suspect because it's messy to speak to and altho there is Socrates and philosophy there isn't so much about the "teacher mind" in relationship to how they actually think through the processes of the work maybe Carl Rogers shared something of it. But just the same it reminded me just a little of this. Just a little.To be honest I wanted to know more about the process gone awry. About the therapist that saw their own stuff shining, about mis interpretation and about the things that might go on and this gave me a beautiful insight. In the end it pretty much gave me insights into what's sitting with the notepad. Again a question my friend decided needed answered given some real hurt I'd suffered.Good book. I suspect many in the field avoid the implications but really worth the time to add into the training.

I found the beginning of this book quite tedious, far too many quotes and examples of other associated literature from other authors/ theorists.I persisted reading and loved the true accounts of transference and counter transference, I can relate to both.It was presented in a totally honest and unbiased way and offered me more insight into the Therapeutic Relationship from both the viewpoint of the client and therapist.It is an excellent resource and I am sure I will refer back to it time and time again to help with my studies and understanding of this perspective.

An original book brave in its self-disclosure but the title is misleading. It says much more about the intricacies and management of the therapist's countertransference than the concept of the wounded healer. Well worth reading.

Great book. Great service.

Intelligent, thoughtful, and stimulating book that I felt was well written and an accessible but power packed read that I would highly recommend.