Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully

"The Walking Wounded "Waiting to die is no way to live." CALM participant Advances in medical treatment and changing demographics mean that a growing number of individuals in the world are living with advanced cancer. They are the walking wounded, facing the threat of impending mortality and the challenge of continuing with their lives. Their task differs from those who are at the end of life, whose primary goal is to face death with comfort and equanimity. The latter is no small accomplishment, but living meaningfully in the face of advanced disease is, in some respects, an even greater challenge"--

Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully provides valuable insight into the experience of patients and families living with advanced cancer and describes a novel psychotherapeutic approach to help them live meaningfully, while also facing the threat of mortality. Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully, also known by the acronym CALM, is a brief supportive-expressive intervention that can be delivered by a wide range of trained healthcare providers as part of cancer care or early palliative care. The authors provide an overview of the clinical experience and research that led to the development of CALM, a clear description of the intervention, and a manualized guide to aid in its delivery. Situated in the context of early palliative care, this text is destined to be become essential reading for healthcare professionals engaged in providing psychological support to patients and their families who face the practical and profound problems of advanced disease.

This compassionate book presents dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a proven psychological intervention that Marsha M. Linehan developed specifically for the impossible situations of life--and which she and Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz now apply to the unique challenges of cancer for the first time. *How can you face the fear, sadness, and anger without being paralyzed by them? *Is it possible to hold on to hope without being in denial? *How can you nurture supportive relationships when you have barely enough energy to take care of yourself? Learn powerful DBT skills that can help you make difficult treatment decisions, manage overwhelming emotions, speak up for your needs, and tolerate distress. The stories and collective wisdom of other cancer patients and survivors illustrate the coping skills and show how you can live meaningfully, even during the darkest days.

Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) for advanced cancer patients is a highly effective intervention for advanced cancer patients, developed and tested in randomized controlled trials by Breitbart and colleagues at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This treatment manual for group therapy provides clinicians in the oncology and palliative care settings a highly effective, brief, structured intervention shown to be effective in helping patients sustain meaning, hope and quality of life.

Geriatric Psycho-Oncology is a comprehensive handbook that provides best practice models for the management of psychological, cognitive, and social outcomes of older adults living with cancer and their families. Chapters cover a wide range of topics including screening tools and interventions, psychiatric emergencies and disorders, physical symptom management, communication issues, and issues specific to common cancer sites. A resource section is appended to provide information on national services and programs. This book features contributions from experts designed to help clinicians review, anticipate and respond to emotional issues that often arise in the context of treating older cancer patients. Numerous cross-references and succinct tables and figures make this concise reference easy to use. Geriatric Psycho-Oncology is an ideal resource for helping oncologists and nurses recognize when it may be best to refer patients to their mental health colleagues and for those who are establishing or adding psychosocial components to existing clinics.

"Psycho-oncology, 4th Edition is solemnly dedicated to Professor Jimmie C. Holland, M.D., internationally recognized as the founder of the field of Psycho-oncology. Dr. Holland, who was affectionately known by her first name "Jimmie", had a profound global influence on the fields of Psycho-oncology, Oncology, Supportive Care, Psychiatry, Behavioral Medicine and Psychosomatic Medicine. At the time of her passing, Dr. Holland was the Attending Psychiatrist and Wayne E. Chapman Chair at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York"--

Psychiatric, or psychosocial, palliative care has transformed palliative medicine. Palliation that neglects psychosocial dimensions of patient and family experience fails to meet contemporary standards of comprehensive palliative care. While a focus on somatic issues has sometimes overshadowed attention to psychological, existential, and spiritual end-of-life challenges, the past decade has seen an all encompassing, multi-disciplinary approach to care for the dying take hold. Written by internationally known psychiatry and palliative care experts, the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine is an essential reference for all providers of palliative care, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors, oncologists, hospice workers, and social workers.