https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3271-6997
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ABSTRACT
Cancer patients frequently experience pronounced rates of stress and associated psychological disorders. Unfortunately, many oncology departments only offer limited psychotherapeutic services. This study evaluates if Conflict Analysis (CA), a brief self-guided psychotherapeutic intervention, can help fill this void. CA combines self-report questionnaires, drawing, creative writing, and structured self-reflection. Previously implemented in psycho-educational and clinical contexts, the study presents CA’s first psycho-oncology implementation. This study evaluates CA’s psychosocial benefits for oncology patients interested in mental health services. CA’s abbreviated paper-version (estimated 2.5 h) was provided to nine patients. Before immediately after, and two weeks after, participants completed hope, growth, and motivation measures. Cancer-care-providers completed benefit evaluations. A sample case is discussed. Six participants completed CA. Measures showed nonsignificant improvement. Cancer-care-providers and participants rated CA as therapeutic, diagnostically accurate, and personally relevant. CA appears to be a meaningful, relevant, and accessible intervention for cancer patients. Limitations include illness/treatment influence and sample size. Evidence supports larger cohort replication.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have no conflict of interest.
Data availability statement
Data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Research involving human participants and/or animals
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the hospital institutional review board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.