Healing from Medical Trauma with EMDR Therapy

"Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”

Peter A. Levine

The reason I wanted to write a blog article about what I am calling ‘medical trauma’ is because this is an area of work I feel passionately about and has been relevant during my career. When I was a trainee clinical psychologist, I undertook a placement in a large hospital, working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Rehabilitation team. This team supported people who were in ICU or who had been discharged from ICU.

In this setting, my job was to offer psychological support to people who were seriously unwell and currently in the ICU or to assess the psychological needs of people who had been discharged from ICU. Here I learned that people need to rehabilitate not just physically, but psychologically as well. I also learned how traumatising and frightening it can be to be seriously unwell, to undergo intensive or invasive medical treatment, or to live with a life-threatening health diagnosis.

What I also learned is that the right support can help.
I have since met many people who have suffered from awful flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety related to their experience of ill-health and hospital treatment. This can sometimes result in avoidance of the hospital, treatment, or other aspects of healthcare, leading to worsening of symptoms and an increased likelihood of needing hospital treatment again – it can be a vicious cycle.
Often people suffer for far too long, because their trauma is not recognised and so it is not treated. Effective, evidence-based treatments exist, and they can often work quickly, meaning people can move forward from the past. Therefore, it is important for people to be educated about trauma related to medical experiences so that they can seek effective support quickly.

How can medical or hospital experiences cause trauma?
If you’ve been living with a long-term health condition, a life-threatening illness, or you’ve had a hospital stay that was overwhelming, intensive, or frightening in some way, there’s a chance that these experiences can impact you in a negative way.

Trauma is a person’s emotional response to a distressing event or experience. When we face extreme or distressing events that are outside of our control, it can overwhelm our ability to cope, sometimes resulting in a lasting negative impact.

Traumatic experiences can involve direct or indirect exposure to situations that threaten one’s life, safety, or sense of self, and they may result in intense feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror.

Examples of medical trauma:
You have been given a diagnosis of a serious illness or disease that might be life-threatening. You were told this news in a blunt and direct way which felt like a massive shock to the system. You have found that this news & the moment of delivery has stuck with you, even months after you were told. You find yourself feeling tearful and overwhelmed whenever you recall being told this news.
You went into hospital for some routine bowel surgery, however, you developed an infection which was life-threatening. Although this was treated, you are now feeling on edge, tense, and irritable. You avoid any reminders of the hospital as much as you can.
You experienced a serious car accident that meant you were rushed into ICU. You were in there for a few days before having further treatment elsewhere in the hospital. Since you left hospital, you have nightmares and flashbacks about the car accident which have a significant negative impact on your day-to-day life.
When in hospital you were unwell and saw some frightening things that made you worry you were ‘crazy’ e.g., you believed the hospital staff were trying to kill you, or perhaps thought you had been abducted. * These experiences are usually related to delirium and can feel very real and so are very frightening.
In my work as a psychologist, I have supported many people who have experienced events as described above. I know how awful it can be to live with the impact of such events. I do also know however, that healing, processing, and moving forward, is very possible, especially with the right help.

So, how can EMDR therapy help to heal from medical trauma?
Trauma therapy can help to process events that feel ‘stuck’ in the past e.g., you have intrusive memories from the past, or experience the memories/feelings of the past as if they were happening now. Therapy such as EMDR therapy can help process memories so that they no longer feel like they are present, and can help to put them in the past where they belong.

If you want to read more about EMDR therapy, then check out my blog post here: Healing Trauma Through EMDR Therapy: how EMDR can help you

Now I know all this, where do I find an EMDR therapist?
If you are reading this blog post because you have experienced medical trauma, then my take home message to you is that help is available. Whether you want to contact me, or another therapist, please know that things can feel better than they do now.

If you would like to get in contact with me, then you can do so below. If you would like advice on how to find an appropriately qualified EMDR therapist, check out my post on this here: EMDR Therapy: How to find an EMDR Therapist