To be wounded and yet heal. How two wounded healers helped Henri Nouwen find solitude

Verbum et Ecclesia

 
 
Field Value
 
Title To be wounded and yet heal. How two wounded healers helped Henri Nouwen find solitude
 
Creator Marchinkowski, George W.
 
Subject Christian Spirituality Anton Boisen; Henri Nouwen; spirituality; spiritual transformation; Vincent van Gogh; wounded healer
Description This article explored Henri Nouwen’s well-known concept, the wounded healer. After investigating its origins, Henri Nouwen’s use of the term was examined. The article proposed that Henri Nouwen was mainly influenced by Anton Boisen and Vincent van Gogh in his use of the concept of the wounded healer. Nouwen’s interest in these persons was considered to glean how they shaped his thoughts before focusing on he used a model of pastoral analysis, the living document model to autobiographically explore his own wounds, to access them, and to offer what he learned as a means of healing for his audiences. Nouwen recognised himself as wounded and became for his readers a wounded healer. Nolte and Dreyer’s view that the wounded healer concept was a welcome corrective to prevailing models of pastoral care, and De Jong’s view that the wounded healer is a pathway to self-actualisation were used as a bridge to Nouwen’s views on personal spiritual transformation. Finally, Nouwen’s thoughts on transformation involving a movement from loneliness to solitude were investigated, showing that the outcome was a move towards a considered and deeper interaction with the world.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article contributed to scholarship in Christian spirituality by considering the work of Henri J. M. Nouwen and the sources of his concept, the wounded healer. It also considered connections with and implications for pastoral psychology and practical theology.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2023-12-12
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Literary Analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ve.v44i1.2839
 
Source Verbum et Ecclesia; Vol 44, No 1 (2023); 8 pages 2074-7705 1609-9982
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2839/6916 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2839/6917 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2839/6918 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2839/6919
 
Coverage Western world; North America Twentieth century —
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 George W. Marchinkowski https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT