Psychological and self-help therapies

In this section, several approaches are discussed that have been used to help people cope with stress, anxiety and difficult feelings and emotions. They may be helpful for some people. It can also be helpful to develop open and honest communication between the person who has cancer, their family and friends, and their health professionals.

• Talking therapies
• Counselling
• Group therapy
• Self-help groups

Talking therapies

There are many different types of talking therapies available, including psychotherapy and counselling. These have all been shown to benefit people who have anxiety or depression, and can be useful for people affected by cancer. You can ask your doctor to put you in touch with the psychological support services at your hospital.

Counselling

Many people can get support by talking to close family members or friends, but it can sometimes be useful to talk to someone from outside your circle of family and friends, who has been trained to listen and help you explore your feelings. The emotions you are feeling may be very tangled and confused. You may find them difficult to talk about and very hard to share with your friends or family.

Talking one-to-one with a trained counsellor in a more focused way is designed to help you sort out your feelings and find ways of coping with them.

Some GPs have counsellors within their practice, or they can refer you to a counsellor. A national cancer counselling service, The Cancer Counselling Trust, provides face to face counselling for people in London and telephone counselling for anyone outside London. One to one, couples or family counselling is available.

Group therapy

You may be given the chance to take part in group therapy, in which a trained therapist (counsellor or other professional) encourages a group of people to share their feelings and experiences with each other. This is different from a self-help group (see below), as the therapist leading the group will be aware of the individual participants' problems and will be able to guide the discussion so that everyone benefits.

Self-help groups

Organised groups, where people with cancer and their families meet others in a similar situation, can be helpful. Often this is the first opportunity that families have to discuss their experiences with other people living with cancer.

These groups can be a source of information and support and can provide an opportunity for people to talk about their feelings. Some groups are run by health professionals, doctors and nurses, counsellors or psychotherapists in a hospital. More commonly, people with cancer run the groups. They often offer different techniques and coping strategies, together with relaxation or visualisation, as well as practical information and emotional support.

If you are interested in joining a group, but are unsure about whether it would be helpful, you could try making some enquiries about it first, and go to a meeting to see what it is like. You may feel more comfortable if you take a friend or a relative along with you. But if you are uncomfortable with a group situation, you don't have to go again. You may find it more helpful to find someone you can speak with individually on a regular basis to support you.