Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:1623-1632
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
The listening healer in the history of psychological healing
SW Jackson
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is the assessment of the healer's
listening as an aspect of the history of caring and curing, with particular
attention to its place in psychological healing. METHOD: An extensive range
of philosophical, religious, and medical sources from antiquity to the
present were studied. RESULTS: Over the centuries, listening has been a
crucial aspect of the various endeavors undertaken by healers in the
interest of acquiring information from, achieving understanding of, and
bringing about healing effects for sufferers. Yet it has been vision rather
than hearing that has been emphasized in knowing and understanding, and
looking rather than listening that has been emphasized in healing
endeavors. Only around the turn of the twentieth century did there emerge
the focused study of care in listening, of listening beyond the words
themselves, and of the significance of the interested listener as a
soothing, empathic force. CONCLUSIONS: The place of listening in depth and
with empathy is a crucial element in healing. While the emphasis on looking
remains significant in the gathering and appraisal of data, at times it
threatens to overwhelm the need for an attentive and concerned listener.
There appears to be a natural tension between the two modes that has, in
modern times, been translated into a tension between the two modes that
has, in modern times, been translated into a tension between a scientific
mode of gaining information and a humanistic mode of knowing sufferers. A
healer neglects either one at his or her peril-- and at the peril of his or
her patients.
