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Improving Breast Cancer Survivors’ Psychological Outcomes and Quality of Life: Alternatives to Traditional Psychotherapy

  • Psycho-Oncology and Supportive Care (E Shinn and C Fagundes, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Breast Cancer Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Breast cancer survivors (BCS) often experience psychological problems and lowered quality of life (QOL). While helpful, psychotherapy is often costly and inaccessible. This review aims to provide practitioners with the latest information on empirically tested interventions among BCS that may be used in lieu of, or in addition to, traditional psychotherapy.

Recent Findings

Recent developments in cancer-related psychological interventions include a focus on facilitating emotional disclosure (e.g., expressive writing), enhancing close relationships (e.g., couples-based interventions), and increasing feasibility and accessibility via online and computer-based intervention programs. These alternatives to psychotherapy offer a number of benefits including cost-effectiveness, personalized adaptability, and ease of implementation.

Summary

Utilizing these interventions as alternatives or supplements to traditional psychotherapy may offer BCS an opportunity to increase their QOL, improve psychosocial outcomes, and find meaning in their cancer experience. Choosing the appropriate intervention requires understanding the unique circumstances for each survivor and their family.

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Funding

Preparation of the manuscript was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL127260-01) to C. P. Fagundes

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of Houston, 3695 Cullen Blvd. Rm 126, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Angie S. LeRoy

  2. Department of Psychology, Rice University, Bioscience Research Collaborative, Houston, TX, USA

    Angie S. LeRoy, Michelle A. Chen, Ryan L. Brown & Christopher P. Fagundes

  3. Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Allison Shields

  4. Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Christopher P. Fagundes

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Christopher P. Fagundes

Authors
  1. Angie S. LeRoy
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  2. Allison Shields
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  3. Michelle A. Chen
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  4. Ryan L. Brown
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  5. Christopher P. Fagundes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Angie S. LeRoy.

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Conflict of Interest

Christopher P. Fagundes has received a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL127260-01).

Angie S. LeRoy, Allison Shields, Michelle A. Chen, and Ryan L. Brown declare that they have no competing interests.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psycho-Oncology and Supportive Care

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LeRoy, A.S., Shields, A., Chen, M.A. et al. Improving Breast Cancer Survivors’ Psychological Outcomes and Quality of Life: Alternatives to Traditional Psychotherapy. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 10, 28–34 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-018-0266-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-018-0266-y

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