Transforming From Cocoon to Butterfly: The Potential Role of the Body in the Process of Posttraumatic Growth

The diagnosis of cancer has the potential to elicit positive change (posttraumatic growth [PTG]) through the experience of trauma and adversity. However, psychology and clinical practices and most recently positive psychology have been criticized for their indifference toward the influence of the body on positive psychological functioning. The aim of this study was to broaden the understanding of PTG, including its process and outcomes, using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Ten female breast cancer survivors, from an already existing study, participated in an individual, open-ended interview. These were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for themes that reflected the women’s experience of growing from adversity. The role of the body was found to be a vital component to the process and outcomes of PTG and was deconstructed into three smaller themes: fear of new body, negative effects of chemotherapy on the body (fatigue, loss of desire), and reconnection with body (cocoon to butterfly, listening to body, body as a barometer/monitoring). In addition, the analysis revealed how these 10 women perceived the body as an integral component to their self-identity and how this affected their achievement of PTG. Future research should begin to acknowledge and conduct further study into the neglected role of the body as a contributor or determinant of the PTG process.