Supportive Psychotherapy and Cancer: A New Model for an Old Therapy
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199363315.003.0055
Supportive psychotherapy is both the most simple and most complex tool we have for helping patients cope with cancer illness. This chapter describes the many skills it requires, including being knowledgeable about cancer as a medical disorder, the ability to assess and manage patients psychologically, and capacity for being comfortable with one’s own subjective experience in the face of complex and tragic medical situations.