Customer Reviews

Being A Wounded Healer

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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"This is an extremely practical book aimed at helping people USE their woundedness. As a Thanatologist, I've encountered all manner of woundedness, suffering, and misery. So often we hear the messages RUN from pain and suffering. HIDE FROM IT. TAKE A PILL. GET OVER IT. But wounds are a part of life: we cannot escape them. So Doug shows how we can USE them to become better people, how we can USE them to become better healers, how we can USE them for the benefit of ourselves and others. This is a VERY PRACTICAL BOOK!"

As a nurse that works with the terminally ill I constantly hear from the patients that they feel useless, a burden on their family, left out, diseased or not worthy. In our society we tend to focus on those that are "perfect" or "exceed". No one is perfect. Our wounds make us special. It teaches us humility, compassion, charity and love. Doug's book is about "real" people and how we are all alike in special ways. I appreciate the book showing us how we can take our wounds and become better people.

Doug Smith is fabulous in person as a presenter and I was truly looking forward to reading his book. Perhaps my expectations were high, having heard him speak, but the inspiration and knowledge I was hoping to glean from his book were severely lacking. It is not well written and tends to overstate the same concept. There are better books if you are looking for any inspiration or personal growth.

I first read "Being a Wounded Healer" when I was interning at a hospice agency. As a recovering survivor of chronic abuse and trauma; I secretly feared that I would not be able to handle the stark, raw emotions that many of my clients and their families were expressing to me. My insecurity was reinforced by comments from some of my supervisors and peers who insisted that abuse survivors cannot become effective mental health professionals because we're damaged goods (my words, their underlying meaning). Douglas Smith's book helped me to realize that I not only should stop accepting their unwarranted shame and rejection; but I also should CELEBRATE the fact that my healing wounds were now becoming a source of strength, love, caring, and spiritual light. Today, as a licensed mental health professional, I specialize in recovery from trauma, abuse and grief. I love my work, I love my clients, and I love watching them heal and discover their own Posttraumatic Growth (Tedeschi and Calhoun, 2004). Thank you, Mr. Smith, for challenging us to accept, honor, and celebrate our wounds, even as we continue to minister to others.