Description
ALLEVIATE PAIN IN THE FINAL STAGE OF LIFE
Emotive Relaxation Techniques can play an important role in palliative care, especially during the last stage of life. It allows clients to relax, dispel fears and promote a sense of well-being. The basis of Emotive Relaxation Techniques lies in the thoughts “pain is stuck in fear, sadness and anger”, “if trauma can occur in a moment, it should be able to be resolved in a moment” and “feeling knows no time” (Duchateau, 2001).
The idea ‘pain is stuck in fear, sadness and anger’ has led to the use of the so called MES-points, in which a powerless feeling and associated behaviour are elaborated into a mental (M), emotional (E) and a somatic (S) experience. When a person experiences powerlessness, a compensatory behaviour automatically occurs with the goal of getting away from the powerlessness feeling.
This feeling of powerlessness and the behaviour associated can be explored, which we call exploration of a MES-point (Duchateau, 2003). The statement “feeling knows no time” stands for the fact that a trauma may have occurred decades ago, but can still be felt in the present in the same way as it was at the time it occurred. The trauma that had occurred long ago in the past may actually start to play up in the last phase of life and cause feelings of helplessness.
The body remembers the previously shocking experience and triggers the autonomic nervous system to fight or flee or freeze. The use of Emotional Relaxation Techniques allows conscious attention to the present moment, which can help improve the quality of life for clients in the final stage of life. This can relieve suffering and alleviate other problems of a physical, psychosocial and spiritual nature.
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