Healing is the process of restoring a person’s sense of wholeness by transcending suffering. It encompasses physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements of human experience; it’s an intensely personal, subjective journey to reconcile the meaning one ascribes to distressing events with their perception of who they are as individuals.
Community action restores a patient’s integrity as an individual and connects him or her to those in the community. But to achieve true healing, compassion must also be nurtured – an essential trait of healers that can only develop when practitioners are willing to acknowledge their own vulnerability and weakness, thus cultivating compassion within themselves.
Physicians must be willing to acknowledge their vulnerability and weakness during patient care. Without this acceptance, a healer cannot fully and sustainably understand the importance of compassionate treatment.
A healer who accepts this vulnerability and weakness within themselves can create an intimate bond with their patient’s interior emotional state, which may otherwise remain hidden to clinical observation. Through this connectedness, they can help the patient overcome suffering more effectively.
As Brody (1992) suggests, healers can make a meaningful impact on patients’ quality of life by tapping into the tenderness phenomenon and entering into their patients’ suffering. By connecting their own feelings with those of their patients, healers create an intimate connection that transcends any sense of power they may possess.
Healers must also be able to identify with the patient’s sense of wholeness, acknowledging that sense of wholeness is an intricate and multilayered experience encompassing all dimensions of human experience. This understanding is key in aiding healing by encouraging self-respect – an essential factor in maintaining a healthy sense of identity.
Self-respect is a crucial aspect of healing, giving patients hope that they have the strength to rise above illness and find renewed wellbeing. A patient’s renewed sense of personal wellbeing also provides them with an insight into illness that can be channeled into personal projects.
It is essential for us all to recognize the power of healing, especially after experiencing trauma. While it can be challenging to face our past and remember what caused it, doing so is crucial for emotional and physical recovery.
A therapist can assist with this process, but it’s essential to remember that recovery from depression is a long one. It may take months before you feel back to normal and you may require extra support from friends or family while working towards your recovery.
