Learn all about the caretaker archetype, including definition, characteristics, examples and how it relates to the Caregiver archetype.
Quick Navigation
What is the Caretaker Archetype?
The archetypal caretaker is one who finds their fulfilment and happiness in life through the taking care of others. Moved by a strong inbuilt desire to help other people and by their innate compassion, the caretaker is a selfless individual who seeks out opportunities to support the most vulnerable in society.
Caretaker Personality Professions
They are often found in professions such as nursing, medicine, midwifery, teaching, religious ministry, social work, counselling, childcare or working as professional carers.
Caretaker Archetype Characteristics & Traits
- Those around the caretaker can look to them as an example of humanity’s best qualities – generosity, empathy, self-sacrifice, compassion and service.
- The caretaker is a trustworthy individual with only other’s best interests at heart, who prioritizes the needs and wellbeing of others above themselves.
- The caretaker is a strong team player, being generous with their encouragement for others as well as a good listener and advisor when those around them are troubled due to their emotional intelligence.
- They are often the cheerleader for those around them, seeking to boost their confidence and brighten their day.
- The caretaker is also a highly moral individual with a strong sense of right and wrong.
- They have a developed sense of justice and strong views on human rights, relations and equality.
- They will seek to right injustice where they find it, having a strong willpower which they will employ in order to fight for change where needed or to gather aid and support of those in need.
- A hard-working person, the caretaker is willing to use their own position, power and contacts in order to achieve what they believe is morally right and will benefit those they perceive as in need should this be required.
Caretaker Archetype Examples
Nelson Mandela is often pointed out as a good example of a real archetypal caretaker, as an individual with a strong moral compass who fought for equal rights for all of South African society and sought to ensure that Black South Africans were provided with a decent standard of living.
Another real example is that of the British wartime hero Sir Nicholas Winton, who was responsible for the saving of at least 669 Jewish children in WW2 through organizing their evacuation to Britain.
It is estimated that at least 6000 people are alive today who would not have been as a direct result of his actions.
Other figures who fit the caretaker archetype include Diana, Princess of Wales, Bono, Mother Teresa, Oskar Schindler and Bob Geldof.
Further Reading
Further reading on the caretaker archetype includes:
- If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton – Barbara Winton
- Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela – Nelson Mandela
- Bono: The biography – Laura Jackson
