Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy for Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Treatment Manual

I am an attending psychiatrist and I am using this book to teach Meaning Centered Psychotherapy to the psychiatry residents. It is very helpful to go through the exercises in a group format. That way, the residents learn what and how to do this therapy and at the same time, they learn about their own existential inquiries.

This is the first evidence based group counseling intervention shown to be effective in randomized controlled trials to reduce distress and existential despair in patients with cancer. This treatment manual is an invaluable asset to all clinicians who are involved in treating the psychosocial aspects of cancer care including palliative care. The manual is simple, structured and detailed enough so that a clinician can pick up the manual and begin treating patients right away. The intervention is highly effective. Professionals are encouraged to read the clinical trials demonstrating efficacy, however the manual has an extensive introductory section describing the evidence-base. As well as the theoretical framework of meaning-centered psychotherapy. Readers who are familiar with Viktor Frankl's logotherapy will welcome this manual as a scientifically proven adaptation of logotherapy applied to the cancer population. Dr. Breitbart, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has created an intervention and authored a treatment manual that has moved the field of psycho-oncology a great leap forward.