“Walking wounded or wounded healer?” Does personal experience of mental health problems help or hinder mental health practice? A review of the literature
| Pages | 35-44 |
| Date | 05 March 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-02-2014-0003 |
| Published date | 05 March 2014 |
| Author | Catherine Conchar,Julie Repper |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
“Walking wounded or wounded healer?”
Does personal experience of mental health
problems help or hinder mental health
practice? A review of the literature
Catherine Conchar and Julie Repper
Catherine Conchar is the Head
of Equality and Diversity, based
at Equality and Diversity,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare
NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
Dr Julie Repper is a Recovery
Lead, based at Recovery
College, Nottinghamshire
Healthcare NHS Trust,
Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – A systematic review of the literature on “wounded healers”was undertaken to identify, define
and interpret the term and its application within the mental health environment. The paper aims to discuss
these issues.
Design/methodology/approach – Eight key medical/social sciences databases were interrogated.
In total, 835 papers were identified in the systematic database search and abstracts were obtained for each
to determine whether they met the inclusion criteria. In total, 237 sources were retrieved for critical reading,
to assess relevance and value to the review, and 125 documents were subsequently included. Through
thematic analysis a number of themes and sub themes were identified
Findings – The archetypal image of the wounded healer originates in ancient mythology and crosses many
cultures. There are many interpretations and applications of the belief that having healed their own wounds
a person is in a better position to heal others, however,the evidence to support this is not so robust. Of more
direct relevance to contemporary practice are reports of supporting staff with mental health problems to
make a contribution to mental health services, most recently through the employment of peer support
workers.
Originality/value – As peer support workers are increasingly being employed in mental health services, it is
helpful to consider the many existing staff who bring personal experience of mental health problems. This
paper explores the evidence that their lived experience makes a difference to the way that they work and
considers their employment support needs.
Keywords Peer support, Wounded healer
Paper type Literature review
Wounded healer archetype
As the value of personal experience of mental health problems is recognized in policy,
supported by research and increasingly promoted in practice (see Repper, 2013), it is
interesting to look at the roots of the concept of the “wounded healer”. A systematic review of
the literature on “wounded healers” was undertaken to identify, define and interpret the term
and its application within the mental health environment. The eight key medical/health
databases relevant to this field of study were interrogated accordingly (Table I). Various terms are
used to refer to this concept which resulted in a wide range of search terms being used as
shown in the following list:
1. HEALTH PERSONEL
2. PSYCHOLOGY
DOI 10.1108/MHSI-02-2014-0003 VOL. 18 NO. 1 2014, pp. 35-44, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308
j
MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
PAGE 35
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