Meaning-making process related to temporality during breast cancer traumatic experience: The clinical use of narrative to promote a new continuity of life
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Martino, Maria Luisa
Freda, Maria Francesca
Abstract / Description
Previous research has agreed that meaning-making is a key element in the promotion of patients’ well-being during and after a traumatic event such as cancer. In this paper, we focus on an underestimated key element related to the crisis/rupture of this meaning-making process with respect to the time perspective. We consider 40 narratives of breast cancer patients at different times of treatment, undergoing chemotherapy and biological therapy. We collected data through writing technique. We performed an interpretative thematic analysis of the data and highlighted specific ways to signify time during the different treatment phases. Our central aspect “the time of illness, the illness of time” demonstrates that the time consumed by illness has the risk of becoming an illness of time, which transcends the end of the illness and absorbs a patient’s past, present, and future, thus saturating all space for thought and meaning. The study suggests that narrative can become a therapeutic and preventive tool for women with breast cancer in a crisis of temporality, and enable the promotion of new semiotic connections and a specific functional resynchronization with the continuity/discontinuity of life. This is useful during the illness and medical treatment and also after the treatment.
Keyword(s)
breast cancer meaning-making health trauma temporality narrativePersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2016-11-18
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
12
Issue
4
Page numbers
622–634
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Martino, M. L., & Freda, M. F. (2016). Meaning-making process related to temporality during breast cancer traumatic experience: The clinical use of narrative to promote a new continuity of life. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(4), 622–634. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1150
-
ejop.v12i4.1150.pdfAdobe PDF - 532.58KBMD5: 594c570dfd30dade723a568569c822e9
-
There are no other versions of this object.
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Martino, Maria Luisa
-
Author(s) / Creator(s)Freda, Maria Francesca
-
PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T09:59:49Z
-
Made available on2018-11-21T09:59:49Z
-
Date of first publication2016-11-18
-
Abstract / DescriptionPrevious research has agreed that meaning-making is a key element in the promotion of patients’ well-being during and after a traumatic event such as cancer. In this paper, we focus on an underestimated key element related to the crisis/rupture of this meaning-making process with respect to the time perspective. We consider 40 narratives of breast cancer patients at different times of treatment, undergoing chemotherapy and biological therapy. We collected data through writing technique. We performed an interpretative thematic analysis of the data and highlighted specific ways to signify time during the different treatment phases. Our central aspect “the time of illness, the illness of time” demonstrates that the time consumed by illness has the risk of becoming an illness of time, which transcends the end of the illness and absorbs a patient’s past, present, and future, thus saturating all space for thought and meaning. The study suggests that narrative can become a therapeutic and preventive tool for women with breast cancer in a crisis of temporality, and enable the promotion of new semiotic connections and a specific functional resynchronization with the continuity/discontinuity of life. This is useful during the illness and medical treatment and also after the treatment.en_US
-
Publication statuspublishedVersion
-
Review statuspeerReviewed
-
CitationMartino, M. L., & Freda, M. F. (2016). Meaning-making process related to temporality during breast cancer traumatic experience: The clinical use of narrative to promote a new continuity of life. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(4), 622–634. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1150
-
ISSN1841-0413
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1022
-
Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1214
-
Language of contenteng
-
PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
-
Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1150
-
Keyword(s)breast canceren_US
-
Keyword(s)meaning-makingen_US
-
Keyword(s)healthen_US
-
Keyword(s)traumaen_US
-
Keyword(s)temporalityen_US
-
Keyword(s)narrativeen_US
-
Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
-
TitleMeaning-making process related to temporality during breast cancer traumatic experience: The clinical use of narrative to promote a new continuity of lifeen_US
-
DRO typearticle
-
Issue4
-
Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
-
Page numbers622–634
-
Volume12
-
Visible tag(s)Version of Record