Physician Heal Thyself

As a practicing Psychologist, I have reflected on this saying with great care and consideration for what it means to be an imperfect human whose primary function is to help others be better –get better. The initial ethos of the phrase as I had understood it was to shine a light on the hypocrisy of the helper – to somehow suggest that healing thyself must preclude helping others. This can sometimes be true. As we all know from the safety instructions on airplanes, we are more likely to help others with their oxygen masks if we can first ensure our own ability to breathe. No argument there. I did, however, begin to wonder whether imperfections or co-suffering must always impede our ability to help others. Are there not world-renowned cardiologists with unmanaged high blood pressure, dentists that don’t floss, pulmonologists/oncologists that smoke, and nutritionists all over this country that collect their occasional evening meals from the window of a drive-through? Can we guarantee that they are ineffective with those they help? In what ways may they be more effective? AH! Now, this second question is confrontational, because it implies that some imperfections may lead to insights and skills precisely suited to address those deficits in others. A review of the ways in which this may take form in the therapeutic relationship far exceeds the scope of this brief mental exercise (although I’d be happy to oblige any interested parties in a discussion of this point). What are the implications for psychologists and mental health professionals who have not fully been able to heal themselves? I share these thoughts to illustrate the importance of expanding our perspectives on the primacy of function and diminishing the importance of any absolute definitions of health or unhealth. The questions, instead, should be simple: 1) What are our values; What is important to us?, 2) Are we moving ourselves closer to or further away from the values that guide us?, and 3) Can the person whose help we are soliciting increase our chances of achieving that end?