What “Evidence-Based Care” Really Means: Bridging Science, Trauma, and Healing Hereditary Cancer
Disclaimer
This podcast is not medical advice. The conversations shared here reflect lived experiences and personal perspectives.
Episode Summary
In this solo episode, host Sara Champie, LCSW, explores one of the most common phrases in medicine and psychology—evidence-based care—and what it really means when we apply it to lived human experience.
Sara walks us through the two definitions that often get conflated: evidence-based research, which measures outcomes in controlled studies, and evidence-based practice, which integrates science, clinical wisdom, and a client’s unique values and culture. She then bridges these frameworks through the lens of hereditary cancer risk, showing how the most profound healing often happens in the spaces that data cannot measure—connection, attunement, grief, and identity.
Through stories of life after surgery and survivorship, Sara invites us to consider that “the connection is the treatment.” Science can guide us, but relationships are what truly heal.
Key Themes
What evidence-based care really means in medicine vs. psychology
The therapeutic alliance as the strongest predictor of healing outcomes
Why relational safety can’t be randomized or quantified
The emotional aftermath of “successful” medical interventions
Bridging the gap between surgical recovery and emotional integration
How research funding, politics, and systems of oppression shape what gets labeled “evidence-based”
Integrating science and relationship for whole-person healing
Featured Quote
“Even when data says you’re fine, the surgery was perfect, the treatment worked — the heart may still need time to catch up.”
Takeaway
Evidence-based care gives us structure and safety, but healing happens when we bring our full selves into relationship—when the nervous system learns that safety is possible again. True integration happens not only through survival, but through reconnection with our bodies, our loved ones, and our sense of belonging in the world.
Resources Mentioned
American Psychological Association: Definition of Evidence-Based Practice
“10 Questions to Ask Yourself After a Genetic Mutation Diagnosis” — free download at sarachampieLCSW.com
Connect with Sara
Follow along on Instagram and TikTok @facetherisktogether
Learn more about individual and group support at sarachampieLCSW.com
Hashtags
#WalkingTheGeneticLine #EvidenceBasedCare #TraumaInformedTherapy #CancerSurvivorship #HereditaryCancer #BRCA #DepthPsychotherapy #WholePersonHealing #TherapeuticAlliance #IntergenerationalHealing #BetweenTheScans