Medical Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy for Cancer and Other Serious Illness

It’s very common for serious illness to put a strain on marriages, partnerships and families. If you are experiencing stress from medical illness, know that it can be helped. I also work with children who are struggling with the illness or death of a parent or sibling. 

For Adults and Young Adults

When you or someone close to you is diagnosed with a life changing illness such as cancer, your world gets turned upside down. Most people have little personal experience navigating these powerful emotions. 

That includes the people around you to whom you typically turn for support. They often don’t know how to be there for you even though they want to be. No matter how well meaning, sometimes their reactions can complicate things, or even leave you feeling worse.

You’ll likely find yourself struggling with overwhelming fear, anger, anxiety and grief.  Cancer, chronic health conditions and other medical illnesses raise difficult emotions not only for the person who has been diagnosed, but also family members and caregivers.  

I developed a specialization in this area after a personal experience in which myself and people close to me struggled with the emotional challenges of a cancer diagnosis.  I witnessed the benefits that can occur by working with these difficult emotions arising from changes to ones body, life and relationships.

Psychotherapy for a life changing medical diagnosis can help you navigate one of the most difficult life challenges with resilience and strength:

If you are the one with the illness:

• Get relief from overwhelming fear, anger and grief

• Reduce stress to allow for better healing and growth

• Manage the stress of making difficult decisions about care

• Get help dealing with the reactions of loved ones

• Cope with changes to your body, life and relationships

If you have a loved one who is ill:

• Get relief from emotional challenges of caregiving including guilt, fear, anger, emotional overwhelm

• Deal with anxiety about the future

• Negotiate changes in the family dynamic and strains on marriage/relationships

• Communicate authentically and supportively with your loved one who is ill

For Children

Children whose parent or sibling have been diagnosed with a serious illness may begin exhibiting behaviors that point to difficulty coping, for example: acting out, meltdowns, clinginess, anxiety and academic decline. They can also try to cope with stress by taking on a care-taking role and overriding their own needs. It’s important that children get help managing the emotional disruption of this difficult time so that they can stay on track developmentally.

When working with children, I engage in play therapy techniques to help them work through their difficult feelings. Learn more here.