Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy Interventions in Advanced
Cancer
Monday,
9 June 2008 - 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
presented by William Breitbart MD and Shannon
Poppito PhD
Presented in
English only / Solo en Inglés
Target Audience:
Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, chaplains,
nurses, oncologists, palliative care and hospice clinicians, medical students,
psychology
students, physicians in training (Psychiatry trainees/fellows; palliative care
trainees/fellows, oncology trainees/fellows). This workshop would also be
of interest to researchers of all disciplines who are interested in intervention
development in psycho-oncology and palliative
care.
Workshop Objectives:
1. The attendees will
become familiar with the concept of spirituality as a construct composed
of faith and/or meaning.
2. The attendees will
become familiar with the importance of meaning, as a component of spiritual
well-being, and its relationship to depression, hopelessness
and desire for death.
3. The attendees will
become familiar with a structured, didactic and experiential 8 session intervention
for advanced cancer patients aimed at sustaining or
enhancing a sense of meaning in the face of terminal illness.
4. The attendees will
participate in experiential exercises that are components of 4 of the sessions
in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy.
Workshop Description:
This one day experiential workshop
provides an overview of a novel counseling intervention for patients with
advanced cancer, entitled “Meaning Centered
Psychotherapy”. Participants will be introduced to the topics of meaning
and spirituality as they relate to cancer care and the experience of patients
with cancer. The basic concepts of Meaning Centered Psychotherapy will then
be described. Meaning Centered Psychotherapy is based on the concepts of meaning
as derived from the work of Viktor Frankl, M.D. and adapted for use in cancer
populations by our team at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Two forms
of Meaning Centered Psychotherapy have been developed: Meaning Centered Group
Psychotherapy (8 weekly 1 ½ hour sessions; Individual Meaning Centered
Psychotherapy (7 weekly 1 hour sessions). Both interventions are manualized
and randomized controlled trials are currently being conducted. Preliminary
data from these studies will be presented as well. During the workshop participants
will have the opportunity to participate in experiential exercises utilized
in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy. In addition, a detailed description of the
intervention and the content of each session will be provided.
Suggested Reading:
- Greenstein MG and Breitbart
W. Cancer and the experience of meaning: A group psychotherapy program for
people with cancer. American Journal of Psychotherapy
54:486-500, 2000.
- Breitbart W. Spirituality
and meaning in supportive care: spirituality and meaning-centered group psychotherapy
intervention in advanced
cancer. Supportive
Care in Cancer 10:272-278, 2002.
- McClain CS, Rosenfeld B,
Breitbart W. The influence of spirituality on end-of-life despair among terminally
ill cancer
patients. Lancet 361: 1603-07,
2003.
- Breitbart W, Gibson C,
Poppito S, Berg A. Psychotherapeutic interventions at the end of life: a
focus on meaning and spirituality. Can J Psychiatry;
49:366-372, 2004.
- Gibson C, Tomarken A, Abbey
J, Breitbart W. Meaning Centered Group Psychotherapy for cancer patients.
In: A Time for Listening and Caring:
Spirituality
in End-of-Life Care, Puchalksi CM (Ed), Oxford University Press, New
York, NY,
pp 315-338,
2004.
- Frankl VF. The doctor and
the soul. Random House, New York, 1955/1986.
- Frankl
VF. Man’s searching for meaning, 4th Edition, Beacon Press,
Boston Mass, 1959/1992.
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