Cancer is only part of who you really are

A personal health crisis such as cancer can be turned into a chance for hope and healing. From wrestling with the diagnosis, to the end of treatments or survivorship, the emphasis can be  on living with cancer and enjoying a high quality of life with friends and family. Cancer is only part of who you really are. You can learn how to relieve and manage distress from cancer through counselling and  psychotherapy.

Counselling supports patients who are distressed due to surgical procedures and treatments and carry fears about identity, sexuality and intimacy. A positive framing of changes to body image, and self-esteem can help in the management of those fears. True intimacy involves the willingness and ability to share yourself honestly, and accept the other the same way. Acceptance and accommodation of body image changes can then bring a reduction in negative emotions, and open the door to deeper intimacy.  Pleasurable diversions are necessary in recovery, just as restorative humour and recreation bring those in relationships closer together.

The distress of cancer is not limited to physical issues, but includes strong emotions such as depression, anger, anxiety, fear, guilt and shame. Counselling helps in recognizing and validating these feelings, providing a safe environment for expressing them. When suppressed, however, strong emotions may affect physical symptoms, increasing depression.  Studies show that health outcomes can be improved by lowering levels of distress.

End of life issues brought into counselling may include individual religious beliefs and practices that need to be honoured and expressed as each person experiences them, including regrets regarding neglected spirituality.  Counselling is an opportunity to pursue that which is seen to be important. Religion may also be used as a barrier to the processing of emotions, the acknowledging of meaningful human relationships and planning for death. The support of faith, prayer, and religious community has been demonstrated to be most effective in reducing death anxiety and disability, and is associated with longer survival.

Supportive counselling is needed throughout the cancer trajectory:

• Diagnosis: Adjusting to shock, anxiety, fear, loss of control, preparing for what lies ahead
  
  
• Treatment: Fear and anxiety are very common during treatment.  Prepare for emotional responses and side effects of treatment.  Fears about stressful medical procedures may interfere with treatment. Strategies needed to promote plan of care.
  
  
• Survivorship: a sudden transition from intense care to “normal” living with unique emotional and practical challenges that need to be processed
  
  
• Recurrence: the distress of re-entering treatment, and the escalation of fears.
  
  
• End of Life: Premature grieving, depression and spiritual pain.  Guidance needed to gain the sense of a meaningful life, to come to terms with unresolved emotional issues, to find ways of communicating with loved ones, validating each one’s roles and needs.

Source: CAPO info