The relationship between trauma and cancer can go both ways. Trauma can be a long-time foundational stressor which kicks in the cancer process. Other times, a cancer diagnosis can create its own trauma. A well-established psychological tool called EMDR Therapy has been shown by several studies to help ease cancer trauma in oncology patients.
EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy. That is a big name for a somewhat complicated but very fascinating and highly successful modality for dealing with trauma. EMDR has been helping individuals with all kinds of trauma for almost thirty years. Recently, professionals have begun to use it for pain management, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and more.
EMDR sessions are led by psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors that are trained in the modality.
The process is simple. The practitioner speaks with the client about past events that led to trauma. At the same time, the therapist exposes the client to “external stimuli” which most of the time are eye-related stimuli that produces lateral eye movements. However, the stimuli could also be auditory, such as hand tapping or audio input.
According to the EMDR Institute, after successful treatment with EMDR therapy, “affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced.” Research conducted by clinical psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late eighties suggests that EMDR is so effective against trauma because it
facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network,
so that information processing is enhanced,
with new associations forged between the traumatic memory
and more adaptive memories or information.”
In layman’s terms, EMDR can significantly help ease cancer trauma. It can lead to creating new beliefs and insights about a past trauma and the reduction or even elimination of emotional stress associated with that event,
The Connection Between Trauma and Cancer
The link between traumatic events in a person’s past and cancer diagnosis has long been verified in the literature. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, i.e. PTSD) throws the body into long-term fight-or-flight response, or extreme chronic stress. Chronic stress is directly connected to the development of cancer.
At the time that the cancer news is received, a person may experience a racing pulse, numbness, confusion, disorientation and dizziness. These are all normal signs of “shock.” The trouble comes, however, when the effects of these events linger with us long after the trauma occurred. For a complete list of PTSD effects, check out this recent Breast Cancer Conqueror blog.
Studies have also revealed what EMDR can do for those affected by cancer trauma.
In 2016, researchers at the University of Milano-Bicocca as well as the Italian Association for Psychosomatic Medicine in Milan, Italy found that EMDR promoted self-healing by stimulating the immune system and creating new adaptive processes in the brain. The Italian investigators also stated that pinpointing specific memories and potential traumas which may have led to the cancer as well as the trauma of the “cancer event” itself may assist in bringing the body back into balance to assist in healing both the trauma and the cancer.
Our emotional traumas can sometimes catapult us into a stress response for decades. Using modalities like EMDR cools the flames of chronic stress in almost all cases. In many cases, it helps to eliminate the hold a trauma may have on a person altogether. And when this happens, the body moves in to the “relaxation response” where your miraculous body begins producing healing hormones instead of destructive ones.
Francine Shapiro, the developer of EMDR, states in her book, (2001) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing that EMDR is a specific integrative psychotherapeutic approach to treat trauma. Shapiro states that a continued pattern of affect, cognitions, behavior and consequent identity structures can be set in motion by earlier life experiences. Present-day stimuli can elicit negative affect and beliefs that are embodied in earlier experiences and their memories, causing the individual to act out in ways that are consistent with earlier traumatic events (Shapiro, 2001).
There appears to be an imbalance in the nervous system when someone experiences a severe psychological trauma. Due to the imbalance, the information processing system is unable to function effectively. Therefore, the individual’s affect, physical sensations, images and sounds remain neurologically in the disturbing state due to this imbalance. Equally important, the original material held in this excitatory state-specific form can be triggered by external and internal stimuli and possibly expressed in the form of intrusive thoughts, flashback and nightmares along with symptoms of PTSD. At the same time, there also appears to be a neurological balance allowing information to be processed to an ‘adaptive resolution.’ Appropriate associations are made with the treatment of EMDR and the experience is said to be used constructively by the individual and integrated into a positive cognitive and emotional schema (Shapiro, 2001).
In the course of EMDR treatment for trauma, an analogous healing is assumed if the information-processing mechanism is unblocked. As disturbing information is transformed, there is a shift in cognitive structure. An individual’s self-worth and efficacy automatically shift as specific memories are reprocessed. This leads to new self-enhancing behaviors. Shapiro states that the hypothesis is that the procedural element of EMDR triggers a physiological state which facilitates information processing. One of the main assumptions of EMDR is that activating the processing of a traumatic memory will naturally help to move it toward the adaptive information processing that it needs for resolution (Shapiro, 2001).
The result of adaptive processing is learning, relief of somatic and emotional distress, and the availability of adaptive responses and understanding. A state of balance or dual attention between internal accessed information and external bilateral stimulation is fostered by EMDR procedures. Similar to psychodynamic theory, EMDR employs a free associative process and appears to enhance the working through of memory, utilizing insight, cognitive reorganization adaptive affects and physiological responses and integration. The Perceptual components of the memory (cognitive, affective, and somatic) are focused with EMDR in order to expedite the accessing and processing of disturbing events and facilitate resolution of memories of earlier life experiences, incorporate adaptive attitudes, skills, and desired behaviors for enhanced future functioning (Shapiro, 2001).
EMDR is intended to alleviate human suffering and assist individuals to fulfill their potential for development. EMDR was given the highest level of recommendation (category for robust empirical support and demonstrated effectiveness) in the treatment of trauma.
Source: Rosalie Fine LCSW-R
https://nancyslist.org/2019/02/21/rosalie-fine-lscw-r/
rosaliefine.com
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