Tolerance begins at home: Implications for counsellor training

In recent years there has been an increasing body of literature investigating the motives of counsellors and psychotherapists. Although there are considerable methodological problems with researching this area, the consensus in this literature seems to be that one determinant for becoming a counsellor may be a conscious or unconscious wish to make good the unresolved difficulties of early childhood. The unsurprising findings that counsellors have had as least as much trauma in their early lives as the general population raise questions about the impact of this for counsellors in training. This paper summarises the literature relating to the concept of the wounded healer and examines the implications of this for tolerating distress among trainee counsellors. A model is presented that aims to address this distress and teach the trainee to practice effective preventative self-care.