Clinical Research Directory

Patients will receive 24 individual, one-on-one sessions with a board -certified chaplain. The goal of these sessions is to elicit the spiritual, existential, and emotional issues or distress arising from your experience of cancer and draw on intrapsychic, spiritual, and narrative resources to develop a sense of meaning of your experience that is aligned with your spiritual and existential values and outlook. Rituals often function as actions to stabilize and support persons experiencing stressful or traumatic moments as well as provide structure for meaning making. The practice of rituals will be included in these sessions as a means of integrating bodily experience into reflection as well as providing a resource for ongoing spiritual support. Rituals may include prayer practices, guided imagery, use of journaling, creation of legacy items, sacred readings, poetry, or other personalized rituals.

24 individual, one-on-one psychotherapy/ meditation sessions with a licensed psychotherapist and a meditation instructor. Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is an approach for addressing stresses and emotional conflicts in life by talking with a therapist. During psychotherapy, patients will be able to discuss specific challenges in your life and will work with a psychotherapist to develop helpful coping skills. Guided Visualization Meditation will be combined with psychotherapy to help you relax the body and clear the mind. Patients will be guided by an experienced instructor to cultivate a personal sense of inner calm. In these psychotherapy/meditation sessions you will determine the pace that you would like to follow and how deeply you wish to engage with the practice. The sessions will be interactive, and the psychotherapist/meditation instructor will respond to your needs and preferences.