Cardiac coherence: A new approach to oncology medicine

In the oncology clinic, the issue of anguish, stress and anxiety is a very important part of treatment. These affects can also condition the outcome of treatment, as well as patients' experiences of their disease. Cancer has specific psychological repercussions compared with other illnesses that do not call so deeply on the subject's being. How can we deal with anxiety other than by taking medication? From patients who have never used anxiolytics or antidepressants to those who are wary of them, the powerlessness in the face of such intimate and intrinsic suffering is being felt. Indeed, anxiety is at the heart of the patient's history. Not everyone experiences anxiety in the same way, or for the same reasons. On the one hand, it is a question of identifying these types of feelings and then trying to understand the ins and outs of them. There's something quite special about psychological suffering: it can't be understood. In other words, there is an inability to share feelings with others that plunges the subject into this distress. Welcoming people with words is our first line of approach to this suffering, but how can we really act? This is where the relevance of cardiac coherence comes in.

Cardiac coherence is a method of refocusing the subject which has a dual effect on the nervous system by activating breathing, and which in turn has an impact on the psyche.

What was interesting to observe was that, in reality, once in a state of anxiety, the emergency having been declared, it is extremely difficult to act on these moments when the patient is in a state of total feeling and is only trying not to drown in his thoughts and feelings. Introducing cardiac coherence into the world of oncology makes it possible to provide a method of preparing for the onset of anxiety. It is very complicated to anticipate anxiety and sometimes impossible to detect its triggers, but training your mind and spirit to react to the micro-signs that herald an emotional catastrophe is essential, all the more so in oncology medicine where the body is bruised.

What we have observed is linked to the person's basic level of stress. Is there a mental invasion, a cognitive disorder or even a difficulty in concentrating on myself that prevents access to the full potential of this method? As well as praising this technique, which has proved its worth, it sometimes gives an indication of a person's emotional and psychic interiority. It is by working in combination with psychotherapy that real, effective care can be provided in an oncology medicine that aims to be closer to humanity.

Nabhan Linda is a clinical psychologist specialising in oncology. She has worked with a large number of psychiatric patients in hospital, then oncology patients in adult wards, before developing her private practice. A cardiac coherence practitioner and founder of the OncopsyHeart Mindcare collective, she continues to develop her practice and her knowledge through numerous articles on oncology medicine.