Psychotherapy, a non-pharmacological approach, can be very helpful in providing more adaptive and effective coping strategies for cancer patients.
Past studies have shown that psychotherapy is helpful in increasing cancer patients’ knowledge of their disease and treatment, their emotional well-being, their quality of life as well as their resilience.
Types of psychotherapy approaches include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Behaviour Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Holistic Therapy, Supportive Therapy and many others.
Males, who tend to suppress their distress are also more likely to benefit from psychotherapy.
Emotional health management
Psychotherapy helps patients cope with their emotions after a cancer diagnosis. This includes helping them deal with fear, depression, and anxiety.
Studies show that patients who strived to improve psychologically and showed more resilience through psychotherapy lived at least three times longer than expected.
Positive affirmations such as “I am strong enough to handle this” can also be an effective coping strategy. Another method includes relaxation training through deep abdominal breathing that helps reduce anxiety.
Likewise, progressive muscle relaxation helps patients relax their muscles and consequently ease their body and state of mind.
Autogenic training through imagining a calm and relaxing environment by guided imagery helps individuals utilise this imagery to cope with their condition.
Physical health management
Psychotherapy can help patients learn ways of managing their treatments more effectively.
Psychotherapy through the bio-psychosocial model helps healthcare providers acknowledge the biological, psychological and social aspects of a patient’s life that plays a significant role in helping them improve.
Through this model, all aspects of a patient’s life will be addressed in the intervention of part of the disease such as pain management.
Psychotherapeutic approaches are beneficial in helping cancer patients reduce their pain through effective pain management techniques as well as by addressing underlying issues affecting them psychologically.
Spirituality is also an important element in the bio-psychosocial model.
Relapse prevention
One of the most important parts of psychotherapy is the element of relapse prevention so that patients do not revert to feelings of distress or fearfulness.
Psychotherapy can help cancer patients utilise cognitive restructuring techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy to help with the “bad days”.
It is important for cancer patients as well as psychotherapists to understand that relapses are common but not a cause for alarm. However, a contingency plan may be formulated to help prevent future relapses.
The level of effectiveness of psychotherapy may differ depending on the severity of the cancer. However, regardless of whether the individual is suffering from acute, continuous, or chronic symptoms of cancer, it is believed that some form of psychotherapy can be helpful in alleviating these symptoms.
Sometimes it helps to know there is professional support around the corner to deal with the more difficult times.
Stamatis Moraitis, a Greek immigrant in the US who lived till about 102 received a lung cancer diagnosis in his mid-60s and was told he had six to nine months to live. However, he lived long enough to outlive the doctors who gave him this very diagnosis.
He opted for a natural puristic way of life in which he spent most of his time in nature and among his loved ones, and realised that he became stronger with improved health.
Similarly, the use of psychotherapy through its many elements of positivity can indeed help improve the longevity of individuals with cancer. There is no limit to what an individual can achieve psychologically and physically.
No matter what the diagnosis and no matter what the prognosis, know that you have it within you to survive and rise above your cancer diagnosis.
This article is written in collaboration with Naluri and first appeared in hellodoktor.com. The Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.