Medical trauma: EMDR therapy to treat the sequelae of somatic illness and medical treatment Summary sheet: Medical trauma:  EMDR therapy to treat the sequelae of somatic illness and medical treatment (Luber)

Somatic disorders like myocardial infarction or cancer, for instance, are based on various dysfunctions of physiological processes. The causes are manifold. Somatic illness is often life-threatening and even if it is not, it can bring along many stressful life experiences for oneself and relevant others. Cancer patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) accept little treatment and aftercare, which can be detrimental for their long-term chances of recovery. The number of those with PTSD in cancer patients should not be underestimated. Intensive care unit (ICU) treatment can be considered a paradigm for PTSD development, as the ICU treatment exposes the patient to helplessness and extremely stressful experiences. Somatic disorders are of course very physical in experience. Also, medical treatment with its intensive use of medication will add a special flavor to the formation of the nodes later to be addressed in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. PTSD shows slightly different symptom patterns with these patients. One will find—to a greater extent—somatic discomfort, depression, hopelessness, poor overall functioning, and more difficulty being employed. The EMDR Therapy adaptive information processing model is an excellent frame to understand the symptoms following trauma by somatic disorder or medical treatment.

Book Section

English

Michael Hase

Hase, M. (2019). Medical trauma: EMDR therapy to treat the sequelae of somatic illness and medical treatment . In M. Luber (Ed.), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Scripted Protocols and Summary Sheets: Treating Trauma in Somatic and Medical-Related Conditions (pp. 111-150). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co