Caring for the wounded healer—nurturing the self

The Wounded Healer: From the Other Side of the Couch

While concern for the "wounds" of the patient are paramount in clinical practice, there is both historical and contemporary literature on wounding in the professional. In what follows, these perspectives are presented. Issues related to transference/counter-transference, the "wounded healer," vicarious traumatization, nocebo potential in informed consent, and the use of treatment as crucible for one's own development as clinician are discussed.

Clinical psychologists' experiences of personal significant distress

OBJECTIVES

This research aimed to expand the existing knowledge based on the effect of professional practise by providing qualitative data on the experience of distress among clinical psychologists working in Britain. Design. Interview data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) - a systematic procedure designed to explore lived experiences which enables interpretations of meaning, cognition, affect, and action. IPA specifically enabled an interpretation of the sense participants made of personal distress as psychologists.

METHOD

Eleven chartered clinical psychologists (nine females, two males) participated in individual semi-structured interviews about their experiences of distress. Interviews lasted approximately 90 min and were either face-to-face or over the telephone.

RESULTS

Analysis of interview transcripts identified 18 sub-themes organized into five master themes: (1) manifestation of distress, (2) making sense of personal distress, (3) role and affects of others, (4) experiences of help/support, and (5) using experiences of distress.

CONCLUSIONS

Distress manifested in various ways including clinical work and attitudes towards work. Personal attributions and meaning of distress mediated how this experience was conceptualized, perceptions/interactions with others, and subsequent help seeking behaviours. Experiences were positively translated into personal/professional behaviours. Implications were considered.

PRACTITIONER POINTS

The paper presents research relevant to UK clinical psychologists and to trainers and employers of this group. The data presented provides a useful insight into the perception of a sample of clinical psychologists regarding what it means to be a 'good psychologist' and the potential impact on their experience of personal distress and on help seeking behaviour. The findings have potential relevance for individual psychologists, trainers, and managers of this group in considering how distress might be experienced and dealt with and could suggest specific questions for future research. It is an example of an IPA study.

The In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Lavandula angustifolia Essential Oil in Combination with Other Aroma-Therapeutic Oils

The antimicrobial activity of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil was assessed in combination with 45 other oils to establish possible interactive properties. The composition of the selected essential oils was confirmed using GC-MS with a flame ionization detector. The microdilution minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay was undertaken, whereby the fractional inhibitory concentration (ΣFIC) was calculated for the oil combinations. When lavender oil was assayed in 1 : 1 ratios with other oils, synergistic (26.7%), additive (48.9%), non-interactive (23.7%), and antagonistic (0.7%) interactions were observed. When investigating different ratios of the two oils in combination, the most favourable interactions were when L. angustifolia was combined with Cinnamomum zeylanicum or with Citrus sinensis, against C. albicans and S. aureus, respectively. In 1 : 1 ratios, 75.6% of the essential oils investigated showed either synergistic or additive results, lending in vitro credibility to the use of essential oil blends in aroma-therapeutic practices. Within the field of aromatherapy, essential oils are commonly employed in mixtures for the treatment of infectious diseases; however, very little evidence exists to support the use in combination. This study lends some credence to the concomitant use of essential oils blended with lavender.

The healers journey: a literature review

While much important research has gone into identifying the efficacy and importance that healing interventions can make to healthcare this paper seeks to synthesise some of the core themes of the processes that healers go through in their journey to becoming a healer. Through the process of a literature review of seminal texts and current literature the paper identifies the key themes of, healer as facilitator, connecting to sources of healing, an appreciation of the healee, an expanded sense of spirituality, an acknowledgement of the wider archetypal significance of the healer, the importance of the wound and the role that these can play in the process of personal transformation and also acceptance. In doing so it hopes to offer that the journey of the healer plays a crucial role in guiding the quality of the healing that healers share in a healing encounter.