IMPROVING QUALITY-OF-LIFE - ADJUVANT PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH CANCER

The present paper describes a psychological treatment programme - Adjuvant Psychological Therapy (APT) - that has been developed specifically for patients with cancer-related psychosocial disorders. APT is brief (average six sessions), directed at current problems and conducted with individual patients together with their partners or spouses, if possible. Therapy focuses on the personal meaning of cancer to the patient and his or her coping strategies. An outline of APT together with a clinical ilustration is given. A randomised trial has demonstrated that APT produces significant improvement in psychological distress and thus in the quality of life of patients with cancer.