هنر درمانی با سه زن مبتلا به سرطان تشخیص داده شده

Cancer can cause multiple psychological crises, including loss of control, loss of self-efficacy, isolation, decreased self-esteem, and grief. A cancer diagnosis always feels urgent to patients and families. After patients learn that they have cancer, life seems out of balance (American Cancer Society, 1993). The author will provide rationale for using art therapy with women cancer patients to enhance coping strategies that involve taking positive steps toward improving their quality of life, understanding their illness and its effect upon them, and taking appropriate steps to deal directly with their disease.

A cancer diagnosis brings with it multiple psychological crises, including loss of control, loss of self-efficacy, isolation, decrease self-esteem, and grief. Illness and hospitalization entail the relinquishment of mobility, productivity, and achievement in favor of a more passive role. Personal worth is challenged by loss of physical function or bodily alterations, and isolation is experienced as the family and social networks find the diagnosis difficult to handle (Kern-Pilch, 1980). Art therapy offers a mode of control by promoting self-expression. Psychological support is provided through the services of an art therapist who “focuses on encouraging clients to find new ways to express themselves physically, psychologically, and spiritually” (Bollentino & LeShan, 1995, p. 19). Art therapy addresses the affective states of being hopeless and helpless while introducing coping skills that enhance and increase perception of control (Hiltebrand, 1999). Individual art therapy with cancer patients provides new resolutions to health-related dilemmas and increases repertoires of effective coping-skills.