Portrait
of the Healer (INFP)
Healers
present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even
distant around others. But inside they`re anything but serene, having a
capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care
deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite
cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the
conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to
bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their
community.
Healers have
a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of
right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable
place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to
understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the
positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to
make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in.
Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity (around
one percent of the population), Healers can feel even more isolated in the
purity of their idealism.
Also, Healers
might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood
childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood—they are the prince or
princess of fairy tales—an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even
punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head
out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so
fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In
truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most
others—swans reared in a family of ducks.
At work,
Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient
with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers
are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most
others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite
happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their
head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling.
They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like
the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift
for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often
write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth
into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if
they must sacrifice their own comfort.
Any Personality questionnaire, including the Sorter is just a rough
indicator of temperament.
You might want look at the full different
temperament descriptions in Please
Understand Me II, to verify the results and learn about other types of
people for comparsion.
