Turning curses into blessings: an Eastern approach to psychosocial oncology.
Cancer patients experience enormous psychological stress in addition to their physical suffering. Neither disease- nor symptomspecific approaches in the conventional Western medical model or single- modal psychological intervention focusing on stress and anxiety are sufficient to relieve patients of their pain and trauma resulting from cancer. Through years of working with Chinese cancer patients and witnessing their growth and resilience, we were motivated to develop an Eastern Body-Mind-Spirit (BMS) Group Intervention model which has a strong emphasis on turning crisis into opportunities, and growth through pain. This model blends different intervention approaches, techniques, and outcome measures both from the East and the West. This paper describes our intervention approaches and discusses the theoretical background in relation to the concept of transformation and some qualitative findings which provide evidence for the study's applicability and effectiveness.
Chan
Cecilia L W
CL
Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, G/F Pauline Chan Bldg, Pokfulam, Hong Kong. cecichan@hku.hk
Ho
Rainbow T H
RT
Fu
Wai
W
Chow
Amy Y M
AY
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010553:Personality Development; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012803:Sick Role; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D014481:United States