Making Sense of Chronic Disease Using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): An Existential View of Illness, 2020, Kalla et al

[Dolphin]

EXPLORE
Available online 17 March 2020
In Press, Journal Pre-proofWhat are Journal Pre-proof articles?

Making Sense of Chronic Disease Using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): An Existential View of Illness
Author links open overlay panelMahimaKallaaMargaretSimmonsaAnskeRobinsonaPetaStapletonb
a
School of Rural Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
b
Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia
Available online 17 March 2020.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.03.006

Highlights


•
Physical diseases may be viewed as somatic metaphors of patients’ meanings and subjective stories, often referred to as “symbolic diseases

•
Assessing the psychosocial and existential aspects of an illness as a routine part of medical diagnostic procedures would be valuable for patients

•
EFT offers promise as a suitable therapeutic approach to help chronic disease patients make sense of their life stories and lived experiences, and consequently, symbolic meanings of diseases.

•
The exploration of illness symbology and meaning-making may offer therapeutic value to patients, from both an existential and a health behaviors perspective.

Abstract
Objective
This article explores chronic disease patients’ personal symbolic meanings of their diseases, as emergent from their experience of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) therapy. The present study is part of a larger study that explored chronic disease patients’ and EFT practitioners’ experiences of using EFT to support chronic disease healthcare.

Design
Eight chronic disease patients who had received EFT were interviewed for this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via face-to-face, or via telephone, or the online videoconferencing platform, Zoom. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology.

Results
Three themes emerged, namely ‘illness as an embodiment of unresolved emotional issues’, ‘illness as body's call for time-out and attention’, and ‘illness as a boundary from other people’.

Conclusion
EFT offers promise as a suitable therapeutic approach to help chronic disease patients make sense of their life stories and lived experiences, and consequently, symbolic meanings of diseases. The exploration of illness symbology and meaning-making may offer therapeutic value to patients, from both an existential and a health behaviors perspective.

Keywords
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Chronic disease
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
Symbolic disease
Illness construction

 

[Dolphin]

The chronic illnesses within the emergent study sample included Mast Cell Activation Disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia, Chronic Migraines, Crohn's Disease, and Arthritis.

I see this extract, which I presume refers to the current study

 

[alktipping]

isn't this a step to far for these navel gazing morons .any doctor who opens a conversation with philosophical drivel is not going to last 5 minutes with me .medicine is supposed to be based in science not the droolings of imbeciles .

 

[Hoopoe]

Physical diseases may be viewed as somatic metaphors of patients’ meanings and subjective stories, often referred to as “symbolic diseases

It's not clear what the author is saying here. It sounds like yet another attempt to say the patients are converting their emotions into illness.

 

[James Morris-Lent]

Decent spoof paper.

'Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis' is pretty inspired comedy. To pick a phrase both totally redundant and utterly oxymoronical is fairly clever.

Explore seems like low-hanging fruit, though. The authors will have to work harder if they want to get one of these spoof papers past an actual journal's editing process.

 

[Trish]

Seems to be produced by a bunch of sociologists. Not a medical doctor among them. One of them has a PhD that 'explored the use of complementary medicine within a diversity of communities'. 3 of them work in a university department of rural health.

Clueless.

 

[alex3619]

Biochemistry doesn't matter, only thoughts and feelings matter ... no scientist should take this seriously.

 

[Simbindi]

When I was doing my MSc in Psychological Research Methods in 2000-2001 and was looking for suitable PhD supervisors, I had some email and telephone communications with Jonathan Smith [http://www.ipa.bbk.ac.uk/] the main psychologist involved in developing the 'new research method' of 'Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis'. I was not impressed by him at all...

 

[Sean]

Like to see these authors get hit by a bus, and then discuss their interpretative emotional responses to the resultant biophysical damage.

This is the sort of drivel that comes from a society that has had it good for too long. We start believing that the fairy tales in our head are more real and important than the actual world we live in.

 

[alktipping]

Like to see these authors get hit by a bus, and then discuss their interpretative emotional responses to the resultant biophysical damage.

This is the sort of drivel that comes from a society that has had it good for too long. We start believing that the fairy tales in our head are more real and important than the actual world we live in.

the fairy tales in our heads give us hope mostly false hope and of course a vital escape from the miseries that come with having way to much time that we cannot fill with physical activities .