Episode 024: On Firm Ground During Cancer
Jul 24, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode description
It’s tough to open up and talk about your worries during cancer, even with people you trust the most. That’s where someone who is outside of your immediate circle can help - they don’t know you and there is no agenda. To shed some light on why a qualified psychologist can become your greatest ally in dealing with worries and uncertainty that come with cancer, I’m talking to Maria who heads up Clinical Psychology department at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne. Maria has a really unique way of relating to people and she shares how you can find the right psychologist for you! Here is what we cover in this conversation:
Internal barriers that prevent us from asking for help
Why cancer is more than a physical illness
What to expect from a qualified psychologist
How to screening your therapist
The impact cancer has on you and those you love
Mindfulness during cancer: is it worth it?
and much, much more!
Links
Dr Maria Ftanou at Peter Mac
Can-Sleep: Improving night-time sleep problems
Psychosocial Oncology Program at Peter Mac
Smiling Mind mobile app
Headspace Meditation mobile app
Episode 023: Getting The Support You Need, On Your Terms
Full Transcript
Joe: Maria, one of the things that really hits someone over the head is a cancer diagnosis, it’s a huge shock when it happens. How do you make sense of it all, how do you come to grips with it?
Maria: Yes, I think once someone is diagnosed with cancer, as you said, it is a big shock and people go through a range of emotions. They feel anxious, they feel worried, they feel overwhelmed about the cancer itself and what lays ahead with treatment. I don’t think there is one path forward or one simple solution. People adjust in their own time and pace. Some things that are usually helpful is talking about how one feels, expressing it with family and friends and other peers.
For some people, getting information and getting the right information from reliable sources is very helpful. They feel empowered and know what to expect. For some people, having too much information is very overwhelming as well. For other people, it’s about finding the right team that they trust and want to work with and they feel can help them with their journey. Other things that are important is making sure that throughout this experience that you maintain things like looking after yourself, catching up with the people that you love and care about.
Trying to include, as the hospital take over your diary, making sure that you have some things that you really value in it and continue with your leisure. Exercise, you hear people talking a lot about exercise through all of this, but if you’re able to be fit enough, it’s really encouraged. It helps people relax, it helps clear the mind, it’s good for the body. Those are some of the tips that may help.
Joe: Yes, absolutely. In terms of how you end up seeing people, I think one of the challenges that people have, I know that I had, with cancer, you often don’t realise that you need help, psychological help. You know it’s supposed to be tough, you’re going through a treatment, you’re facing all of these issues, you’re thinking about your own mortality, you’re thinking about what’s going to happen, all this unknown. I think a lot of folks that I speak to, and myself included, they don’t really realise that they need help. How would you say that someone should go about this and to say, “Well, I should really talk to someone, to a professional?”
Maria: I think asking for help is really difficult. I think that people often see cancer as a physical illness. Really, it is both, it’s a physical illness and emotional. It impacts on you emotionally. Irrespective of prognosis. It changes people’s lives. People are often afraid to ask for help for some of the reasons that you said, they’ll be often embarrassed to ask for help beca...
