The editors have brought together leading researchers and therapists, who provide accounts of the prominent models of psychotherapy currently being used in cancer care, the key themes they address and the essential techniques needed to apply each approach successfully. Helpful clinical illustrations are woven throughout the book to make overt the strategies found in each model.
This practical handbook will help not only psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers but also physicians, surgeons, general practitioners and nurses interested in better understanding and supporting the patients and families they care for.
David Kissane is an academic consultation-liaison psychiatrist, psycho-oncologist and psychotherapy researcher in cancer and palliative care. In 1996, he launched Diplomas of Palliative Medicine and Psycho-Oncology at the University of Melbourne during his tenure as foundation Professor and Director of Palliative Medicine. In 2003, he moved to succeed Dr Jimmie Holland, MD, as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He is the incumbent in the Jimmie C. Holland Chair in Psycho-Oncology, Attending Psychiatrist at The Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, and Professor of Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He is a past President of the International Psycho-Oncology Society (2000-03) and recipient of their Arthur Sutherland Award for Lifetime Achievement in Psycho-oncology in 2008. His academic interests include health communication skills; couple, group and family psychotherapy trials; studies of existential distress; and the ethics of end-of-life care. He is the author of over 150 publications, including two books, Family Focused Grief Therapy (2002) and Handbook of Communication in Oncology and Palliative Care (2009). At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, he has established a state-of-the-art Communication Skills Training and Research Laboratory and a Psychotherapy Research Laboratory. He is Principal Investigator on a range of studies, including dose intensity studies of family therapy in advanced cancer, intimacy-enhancing couples therapy in prostate cancer, facilitation skills development and communication skills training for communication about survivorship, genetic risk, and end-of-life care.