EMDR in paediatric hospital setting: A case report of an adolescent with cancer
Description
Introduction
Childhood cancer is rare, but it is the most frequent serious event with a high risk of traumatization for children, adolescents, parents and siblings. EMDR is widely studied as clinical intervention that addressed cancer-related stressors among cancer adult population, but to our knowledge, no researches have been conducted among children and adolescent with cancer.
Methods
The purpose of this case study is to describe for the first time the application of the EMDR protocol in a paediatric hospital setting with a 17-years-old Italian adolescent who received a diagnosis of leukemia. He accessed the psychological support service complaining of feelings of anxiety and general discomfort. EMDR protocol started after the diagnosis and ended after the usual eight phases. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess stress disorders symptoms as outcome at the baseline (before the First Phase) and at the end of the EMDR protocol (after the Eight Phase).
Results
By using EMDR protocol the patient reported a decrease of emotional activation after a few EMDR sessions.
Conclusion
EMDR protocol may be effective for paediatric cancer patients in treating stress disorders symptoms and it can be proposed immediately after diagnosis as a standard care also in paediatric hospital setting.
Childhood cancer is rare, but it is the most frequent serious event with a high risk of traumatization for children, adolescents, parents and siblings. EMDR is widely studied as clinical intervention that addressed cancer-related stressors among cancer adult population, but to our knowledge, no researches have been conducted among children and adolescent with cancer.
Methods
The purpose of this case study is to describe for the first time the application of the EMDR protocol in a paediatric hospital setting with a 17-years-old Italian adolescent who received a diagnosis of leukemia. He accessed the psychological support service complaining of feelings of anxiety and general discomfort. EMDR protocol started after the diagnosis and ended after the usual eight phases. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess stress disorders symptoms as outcome at the baseline (before the First Phase) and at the end of the EMDR protocol (after the Eight Phase).
Results
By using EMDR protocol the patient reported a decrease of emotional activation after a few EMDR sessions.
Conclusion
EMDR protocol may be effective for paediatric cancer patients in treating stress disorders symptoms and it can be proposed immediately after diagnosis as a standard care also in paediatric hospital setting.
Format
Journal
Language
English
Original Work Citation
Ciappina, S., Roccia, E., Concas, D., Faretta, E., Fernandez, I., Quarello, P., Zucchetti, G., & Fagioli, F. (2024). EMDR in paediatric hospital setting: A case report of an adolescent with cancer. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1347822
Citation
“EMDR in paediatric hospital setting: A case report of an adolescent with cancer,” Francine Shapiro Library, accessed May 2, 2024, https://francineshapirolibrary.omeka.net/items/show/28576.