| Abstract: |
Caregiver burden is clear and receiving deserved attention from medical communities across the United States and world. The potential benefits of the caregiving role and the opportunity for growth afforded by taking care of a loved one with cancer has received less scientific consideration but is nonetheless an equally important area of focus for our field. This chapter focuses on this potential for growth and an intervention developed specifically to foster an enhanced sense of meaning and purpose in the context of caregiving. Meaning-centered psychotherapy for cancer caregivers is a novel therapeutic approach intended to address the existential concerns commonly experienced by caregivers of patients with cancer. Based on an empirically supported intervention that has demonstrated efficacy in improving the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer, breast cancer survivors, and bereaved parents, MCP-C is the first targeted psychotherapy to address the existential needs of caregivers of patients with cancer. The authors hope is that through the development and dissemination of MCP-C, an intervention developed specifically to address the existential distress experienced by cancer caregivers, the unique needs of this underserved and highly vulnerable group can be better met by the psychooncology and palliative care communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) |
