Helping Couples Cope with Women's Cancers

"Kayser and Scott have written an excellent manual for mental health practitioners who care for women with cancer. To provide the best treatment for women and couples living with cancer, it is imperative for the therapist to have a thorough understanding of medical treatments as well as normal responses to the experience. Readers of this well-written, thoughtful, and practical book will have both." -Hester Hill Schnipper, LICSW, BCD, OSW-C, Chief, Oncology Social Work, BIDMC, Author, After Breast Cancer: A Commonsense Guide to Life After Treatment

Close relationships can be vital to a woman’s recovery from breast or gynecological cancer and the myriad stressors that accompany diagnosis and treatment. Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancer shows readers not only how to enlist the patient’s closest support person in coping with the disease, but also to help that partner with the stressors, such as feelings of inadequacy and loss, that so often come with the role.

The authors, established experts on their subject, recognize the challenges couples face, the central role of communication in coping, and the individuality of each patient and couple. In addition to proven intervention techniques and helpful assessment tools, the book features case illustrations, "What to do if…" sections, sociocultural considerations, and suggestions for when the patient’s caregiver is not her partner. Key areas of coverage include:

• Assessment: quality of life, impact of illness, family resources.
• Balancing work, family, self-care, and the demands of illness.
• Cognitive coping, relaxation, stress reduction.
• Body image, sexuality, and intimacy.
• Helping children cope: developmental guidelines.
• Transitions: goal-setting, life after cancer, facing recurrence or terminal illness.

The skills and insights contained in Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancers will benefit a range of health and mental health practitioners, including counselors, social workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and nurses. Graduate students planning a career in health psychology or couples therapy should also find it a valuable resource.

From the reviews:

"A family systems/cognitive behavioral approach to dealing with the stressors felt by a woman who is diagnosed with breast or gynecological cancer and her intimate partner. … This book would make an excellent text for a graduate-level health psychology course dealing with the psychology of illness. It also would be good for a clinician … . is a current, up-to-date refresher on the literature of how illness affects the individuals diagnosed as well as the loved ones who support and help care for them." (Leslie B. Rosen, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (42), October, 2008)

"Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancers is a guide that describes an approach to working with couples who are dealing with early stage breast or gynecological cancers. ... Overall, this book is a useful resource for clinicians working with women coping with breast or gynecological cancers. ... this book will serve as a helpful guide for clinicians working with this patient population." (Sharon L. Manne, Psycho-Oncology, Vol. 18, 2009)

Karen Kayser, Professor, specializes in health psychology, social work in medical settings, intervention research, and couples therapy. She is the principal investigator of "Skills Training for Breast Cancer Patients and Their Partners" (funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Breast Cancer Research Program).

Recently she co-organized the "International Meeting on the Developmental Course of Couples Coping with Stress" (supported by a grant from the American Psychological Association, Science Directorate). She teaches courses on family theories and research, couples therapy, and social work practice with women. She received her B.A. from Michigan State University and her M.S.W. and Ph.D. (Social Work & Psychology) from the University of Michigan.