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Themes Arising in Group Therapy for Adolescents With Cancer and Their Parents

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International Journal of Rehabilitation and Health

Abstract

The introduction of a diagnosis such as cancer to an adolescent confounds an already stressful existence, as chronically ill adolescents face the same developmental tasks and challenges as healthy adolescents. Understanding and enhancing the unique coping strategies employed by teenagers is an important method to improve adjustment to cancer. Through two series of group therapy sessions for adolescents with cancer and their parents we discovered four primary challenges that adolescent cancer survivors face as well as various strategies that they use to cope with these challenges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, California

    Laura Palmer, Tani Shaffer, Cheryl Koopman, Mike Amylon & Hans Steiner

  2. University of New Mexico, Mexico

    Sarah Erickson

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  1. Laura Palmer
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  2. Sarah Erickson
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  4. Cheryl Koopman
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  6. Hans Steiner
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Palmer, L., Erickson, S., Shaffer, T. et al. Themes Arising in Group Therapy for Adolescents With Cancer and Their Parents. International Journal of Rehabilitation and Health 5, 43–54 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012959119398

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