You, as a person with cancer, become a model for emotional strength to your family members. By helping them to be strong, they in turn can help you. This connection between individuals with cancer and their families is often overlooked in cancer treatment. Medical treatments focus on helping the individual to battle the disease. Psychological treatments focus on helping the individual handle emotional distress.
Family therapists understand that families are groups just like other groups in society.
Families operate according to certain rules. They have certain values and beliefs. They have certain ways of communicating with each other. After a diagnosis of cancer, the structure of the family can be greatly changed. Communication patterns can be disrupted.