Counselling Patients with Cancer

Rating:
Summary: Good resource &reliable guide to anyone in grief counseling
Review: 'Counselling patients with cancer' is a book I personally found it to be 'fruitful', and a 'reliable supplement' to my practice. It is a 'no-beat-around-the-bush' format in writing, providing direct guidelines and advice to the reader. Written by a clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist in practice, this book focuses on the 'technical skills' on how to provide counselling to patients with cancer. Especially featuring topics, which really interest me very much: such as styles of coping, group therapy, communication barriers, intrapsychic ego defence mechanisms of denial, projection, rationalisation etc., additionally using the tenets of psychodynamic, client-centred and the cognitive behavioural model in dealing with issues to cancer. Moreover, the chapters included on guidelines on counselling in diagnosis and during the prognosis of the cancer. Case study examples are also included to enhance understanding from certain descriptions provided by the authors, as well as advice and guidelines are provided in point format. The information and materials provided in this book are easy to understand and are 'mentally digestible'. It is cross-culturally applicable.

Besides featuring on psychological perspectives in understanding, identifying, accepting, dealing with cancer, this book is also well featured towards social perspectives in dealing family and couple issues.

However, as I had personally read throughout the book, there is a limitation, which I had noticed ......the book features substantial information in children and adolescents in diagnosis with cancer (but I wish that more information would be provided) This minor limitation could perhaps meant that the book primarily and majority focus on patients that are adults. This remark that I made may actually smear the image of the book. But I realised that adults, children and adolescents shares 'similarities' in ego defence mechanisms, regardless of age, race and religion, and I think that as a reader in the field of counselling, that guidelines and features (treatments and advice) in this book are applicable and are well substantially satisfied.

A basic counselling book additionally to completment with this health counselling book in cancer, provides a excellent resource !