The cancer and mesothelioma support group program was developed by Memorial Sloan-Kettering psychiatrist William Breitbart, MD, in an effort to help cancer patients learn to live their lives in the time between their diagnosis and eventual death. Dr. Breitbart has been chief of the psychiatry service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering since 1996, focusing on the pain, symptom control, and palliative care of advanced cancer patients. His support group approach is known as “meaning-centered psychotherapy,” because it aims to help patients find the meaning and purpose in their own lives when faced with a devastating and fatal disease.
Although quite rare, mesothelioma is extremely aggressive and always fatal, as there is no known cure. Caused by previous exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma – also known as asbestos cancer – will affect about 2,500 Americans this year. Individuals who work in certain industries, including firefighters, construction workers, automobile mechanics, and military veterans [specifically those who served during WWII on naval vessels] are considered to be at a heightened risk of developing mesothelioma or a related asbestos disease.
The program has been used on more than 300 patients since its inception at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 2000, and is based in part on the writings of Austrian psychiatrist and Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl. Dr. Frankl attributed his survival to a deeply founded conviction that, even in the face of death, his life still held meaning.
Likewise, Dr. Breitbart’s program focuses on helping men and women with stage 3 or 4 cancer reaffirm the meaning and importance of their own lives, through reconnecting with sources like love and family relationships that can offer continued opportunites for personal growth and deep comfort.
Each session focuses on a different, specific topic.
Following the initial introductory session, subsequent sessions help patients identify and accept the changes that have occurred in their lives since their diagnoses, to identify the aspects of their lives which are most meaningful to them, and to find ways to satsfy ambitions by connecting with those people and things which are most important to each individual. In the final session, group aprticipants are asked to develop a “legacy project,” which helps thems hare the things they most want to pass on to friends and loved ones.
Both individual and group therapy are regular components of mestohelioma treatment at major cancer centers throughout the world. But Dr. Breitbart’s prgroam is still in the investigational phase. Research regarding the approach has revealed that meaning-centered psychotherapy significantly elevates emotional well-being of the patients who participate in the program,a s well as reducing their levels of anxiety.
As a result of such positive results, cancer centers and other medical facitlities in Europe and Canada have begun similar programs, based on the one developed by Dr. Breitbart, and medical professionals worldwide are recognizing the role of meaning-centered programs in cancer treatment and mesothelioma therapy.
Individuals interested in elarning about mesothelioma, its causes, and its treatment can contact Memorial Sloan-Kettering oncologist Valerie Rusch, MD or visit her web page at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering website, located at http://www.mskcc.org/prg/prg/bios/51.cfm.
