As a healer this is an archetype I’m very familiar with! It’s essential for all of us to have a healthy (excuse the obvious pun) relationship with our healer archetype so that it can show us where and how to make adjustments in our lives to maximise our well-being on all levels; to achieve wholeness. Given enough attention, this results in the ultimate form of healing which is preventative rather than curative.

It was this idea of being able to nip an imbalance in the bud by addressing the root cause, so that it doesn’t have to manifest as physical dis-ease, that excited me most about working as a healer.

It’s interesting that those who have a very strong and activated inner healer, and I count myself among this number, will often have undergone a profound wounding of some kind in this or a recent past life. Through the journey of exploring and releasing the truth of their own pain they then feel compelled to share what they learn to ease the suffering of others.

It’s not just about working professionally as a healer though, so you can’t get away with thinking this archetype doesn’t apply to you – as appealingly safe and comfortable as that thought might be! In my experience we all bring a soul wound of some sort into our current incarnation that’s crying out to be healed. If you want to explore just what this is for you, simply look at the sign and house in which the asteroid Chiron sits in your astrological birth chart. Chiron is known as the wounded healer and you can read more about his mythology on Wikipedia.

So the inner healer enables you to take good care of yourself first and then of others (either close loved ones in your family and social circle or in the arena of the wider community if you move into the professional healing arts). It will help you understand how you process pain, grief and suffering and what you need to do so you can move through it with as much ease and grace as possible. It will also enable you to hold space for someone else while they traverse similarly tough terrain in their own unique way.

The shadow side of this inner archetype can be quite tricky to recognise, especially for women, as so much of its activity is publicly approved as desirable and worthy behaviour. A shadow healer wants to sort out everyone’s pain and feels responsible for that, sometimes even when they haven’t been invited to do so. There’s a tendency to neglect the self, to have weak boundaries with regard to themselves and others, and to give to the point of depleting their own life-force. With the healer archetype at the fore, it’s easy to fall into the grip of ego, believing that you’re special in some way and that no one can truly heal unless they are blessed with your greater knowledge and understanding (sadly rife in the new age community). The recognition and validation you receive from your active healer archetype can distort your motivation for offering help, becoming centred on gratifying yourself rather than facilitating the other’s re-balancing.

Healing your inner healer archetype

Learn to take good care of yourself, and what that means for you. Take a regular inventory of your self-care regime, using the following questions as a starting point. How healthily do you eat? Do you take regular exercise? Is your life all work and no play? Are you aware of the food, environments, relationships and activities that make you feel good and the situations that deplete your energy? Do you put everyone else’s interests and welfare before your own?

Develop the art of healthy boundaries, starting with a long and honest look at how appropriate they are right now. Can you say no to someone who asks for help when you don’t have the time, energy or capacity to give? Are you often burnt out? Do you automatically step in and take over when someone appears to be struggling, without invitation?

Dig deep to examine the real reasons that drive you to help people. Do you have a deep need to be needed in order to bolster your self-esteem? Are you secretly looking for gratitude or recognition in return? If any of these are true, then you’re masking a need for your own healing.

Practice being comfortable with acknowledging and being in the presence of pain and discomfort rather than immediately wanting to make it all better. The first thing a SatNav needs to direct you to your destination is the starting location. In the same way, it’s impossible to map your journey to well-being if you don’t know where you’re currently at. I have a couple of articles that can help you with this: Healing emotions and feelings and Listening to your body talk.