To ensure we meet the needs of cancer patients, their families and caregivers, Fran’s Place offers cancer couseling in every format:
Individual Therapy offers patients one-on-one time with one of our counselors. It is an opportunity to express all of the thoughts, fears and concerns that may be difficult to talk about with family and friends.
The intent is to focus in on your worries, put your most important needs first, and find an approach to dealing with the situation to manage overwhelming fears and concerns. The sessions enable you to learn the tools necessary to navigate through this time and continue to participate in life to your fullest ability. Some people find that even one session helps them feel relief and energizes them.
Navigating a cancer diagnosis and treatments is a challenge for all couples. Cancer patients are in an emotional and physical crisis trying to figure out how to endure all of the medical procedures while maintain some ability to participate in daily life as before.
For partners, there are few things in life more emotionally and physically stressful than having a partner with cancer who is under going difficult procedures snd treatments. Roles and responsibilities change and increase as do the demands to be supportive and strong for everyone, leaving little time or room for yourself.
Under the best of conditions, many couples have a difficult time communicating their feelings and needs. The stress of these life challenges in addition to the loss of intimacy and emotional connection during treatments can leave couples feeling isolated and lonely.
The goal of family counseling is to better understand one another. Family sessions are a wonderful way to honestly open up with one another during the difficult time of a cancer diagnosis. Facilitated by one of our counselors in a warm and supportive environment, these sessions focus on getting the entire family comfortable dealing with and expressing their thoughts and feelings.
If your child is having counseling, you will meet with our counselors together with your child, or, you may meet alone for an update on your child’s progress. This is typically done through play therapy for younger children. For teenagers, the most helpful method is talking about problems.
Offering a perspective from outside the family, our counselors help each family look at the cancer situation from several points-of-view and provide new ways to help and support each other. Families with children have an especially rewarding time learning to use games to communicate feelings and to overcome fears about expressing their thoughts.
Children may pretend to be okay, so that their parents don’t have to worry about them. They want to be like everyone else, but they focus on the cancer all day and worry, sometimes thinking that they somehow caused the cancer.
Play therapy is for young children affected by cancer, either having a family member diagnosed or being diagnosed themselves. We specialize in helping these children better understand what is worrying them through play therapy.
Utilizing games and drawings, we provide a safe way for children to communicate what they are thinking and feeling. Parents are always included in some part, if not all, of this process.