As the expectation of survival has increased, so has the need for psychosocial supports aimed at maintaining quality of life. The day is gone when saving a patient's life was the only concern of an oncologist. In the area of pediatrics, for instance, psychologists have helped force attention and resources on helping children and their families cope with learning disabilities caused by anticancer drugs, or with social adjustment problems caused by disfigurement or loss of school time. Often these are 50-minute sessions that deal with issues of anxiety or stress. Funded by the university and affiliated hospital system, psychologists this year will join teams dealing with head, neck and colorectal cancer, says Fisher, initiator of the approach.
Cancer puts a challenge on any relationship.
It's literally something that rips the human out of its usual social context. We psychologists know something about those kinds of things. We can help people adapt and cope. But we, as psychologists, have insights into the human condition. That is why a medical center is really where psychology has an unparalleled opportunity to do wonderful things.