Psycho-oncological Therapy: What It Is And What Benefits It Provides
It is clear that cancer patients require a series of specific care in the field of medicine; However, we must not forget that health support services should also include psychotherapeutic intervention.
According to official statistics, about 25% of cancer patients also suffer some psychological alteration which adds to their physical problems a direct impact on their mental health.
To learn more about this important branch of psychology, In this article we will see what psycho-oncological therapy consists of and what are its main benefits for people with cancer and their loved ones.
The appearance of cancer is, in most cases, a psychologically destabilizing event that gives rise to a crisis capable of affecting mental health in the short and medium term. Besides, These types of psychological alterations can worsen the person’s physical condition, as well as an unfavorable evolution of their disease, or even influence their degree of commitment to the medical treatment to follow (chemotherapy, radiotherapy…). That is why both problems must be treated as soon as possible from the field of psychology that is responsible for doing so: psycho-oncology.
To achieve this goal, oncological psychology professionals base their intervention on responding to any need that people affected with cancer, and also their families, may present.
Psycho-oncological therapy is the process by which mental health professionals offer care, prevention, support and therapeutic intervention services for people who are going through cancer and advise their family and loved ones in general.
It is a discipline that integrates the most advanced psychological therapies, informed by medicine and behavioral sciences, with the aim of providing the most individualized services to people who need to face their psychological problems and also integrate useful strategies into their daily lives. emotional management.
Characteristics and benefits of psycho-oncological therapy
People who choose to put themselves in the hands of a psycho-oncology professional obtain a series of benefits that have been scientifically proven and that should be valued by anyone who is going through a process of this type. We see, then, what are the functions of psycho-oncological therapy.
1. Enables a global intervention
Psycho-oncological therapy is characterized first of all by being individualized and global, that is, by take into account both possible psychological alterations and people’s emotions, behaviors and thoughts.
Psycho-oncology professionals take into account the personal characteristics, needs and specific problems that their clients have, and value each of their vicissitudes in their particular environments and contexts.
That is why it allows each patient to improve both on an emotional or psychological level and on an individual, work, family or interpersonal relationship level.
2. Allows you to treat psychological disorders
As we have indicated, there are many psychological alterations that people with cancer can develop.
Among the most common we can highlight cases of anxiety and anxious disorders, trauma, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders development of addictive habits or eating disorders.
Online therapy is one of the most advantageous therapy modalities in the field of psycho-oncology, since it allows total availability and allows the client to be treated from home or any other location.
A psychologist expert in online psycho-oncology will provide support as close as an in-person psychologist can, and will offer options for make availability more flexible.
4. Provide emotional support
Emotional problems are common in people with cancer and it is one of the disorders that must be treated in greater depth by the psycho-oncological therapist.
In the emotional sphere we find mainly symptoms related to fear, anger, feelings of abandonment, grief, sadness and helplessness.
5. Provide a context for active listening
Active listening is one of the main strategies that psychology professionals use to encompass and understand everything their patient wants to tell them and put themselves in their place, that is, to be empathetic.
This is a social skill of great importance and especially in psycho-oncology cases, since the client must feel supported and understood at all times.
6. Allows intervention in times of crisis
Psycho-oncological psychology professionals are specialists in jointly applying various therapies, both classic and alternative.
Relationship techniques are a type of therapy widely used to help people achieve states of relaxation or balance between mind and body. Some of the most important are meditation, breathing exercises, yoga and Mindfulness.
7. Enhance group therapy
As indicated, group therapy is of great importance in psycho-oncological practice and offers great results for all its participants. It can be offered in combination with individualized psycho-oncological therapy, so that one form of intervention reinforces the other and vice versa.
In group therapy each participant obtains valuable information and learns strategies and life guidelines that may be useful to them. In addition to that, contact with the group and establishing a meaningful relationship with other people works as a therapeutic element.
8. Allows you to deal with grief
In cases of cancer, grief is a common phenomenon and constitutes a true psychological alteration that must be treated.
Grief is understood as a new life process that the person experiences and that forces them to adapt to a series of losses in their life (loss of health, autonomy, friends and family or their role in the family).
