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Psychological support

Having a cancer diagnosis can be very upsetting and life-changing.

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Often people manage well with their friends and family around them, with their usual ways of coping, but sometimes people can find meeting with a psychologist helpful; it is not unusual to find it difficult to cope with a diagnosis of cancer, treatment and life afterwards.

We provide a specialist service to use psychological approaches to help people understand and manage difficult thoughts, feelings, behaviours and symptoms, and other ways in which a psychological approach can be useful – for example with anxieties, mood, changes in body image, relationships, cognitive changes or fear of recurrence to name just a few. The help we offer is tailored to each individual and would depend very much on what you feel would be most useful to you.

If you would like to meet with a psychologist or are wondering if it might be helpful, please talk to your clinical nurse specialist team, or another member of your cancer team, who can put you in touch with us. Patients under the haematology team can refer themselves to the Linc Clinical Psychology Team - Linc Charity

Information:

Quotes from patients:

“It’s given me hope & encouragement & perspective. It made me feel human again”

“it’s been the most vital part of my treatment”

“They helped me manage the side-effects”

“My whole outlook is different now”

“it helped immensely with stabilising my mood & streamlining my thoughts”

“I learnt new ways to approach & deal with emotions”

“For me, you nailed it!”

Different things can help to cope at different times. Below are things that might be helpful at different stages of cancer treatment.

Support pre-diagnosis or before treatment

People experience a huge range of emotions before and after a cancer diagnosis. Knowing what to expect and having appropriate information about your diagnosis and treatment are important parts of helping you cope. Learning from people who have had treatment already can also help. It can be important to think about the support around you and how friends and family can help.

Here are some types of questions you might want to ask your medical team, though some people like to know more, and some people prefer to know less:

Additional options for information and support on the psychological impact of cancer:

Charities that support younger people (20s-40s) are:

Support during anti-cancer treatment

Going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or targeting therapy can all have an impact on mental wellbeing. Sometimes medications can directly affect people’s moods. Coping with treatment side effects such as fatigue, nausea or cognitive changes can affect mental wellbeing too. Longer treatments can also bring more uncertainty which can be difficult to live with. Sometimes people find the psychological impact of cancer treatment harder to cope with than the physical side.

Books:

  • Ray Owen (2023): Facing the storm: using CBT, mindfulness and acceptance when your world’s falling apart
  • Lucy Atkins and Frances Goodhart (2013), The Cancer Survivor's Companion: Practical ways to cope with your feelings after cancer.

Podcasts and links

Support after surgery and treatment has ended

After surgery or when treatment has ended can bring a mix of emotions. You might feel relieved and grateful at ending treatment and this is a natural time to reflect on what you’ve been through. But it can also bring anxiety and worries about recurrence at a time when your contact with the cancer teams might be much less frequent, or even stop.

Sometimes support from friends and family can drop off too as treatment ends, as others expect things to get back to “normal”, whilst you are still re-adjusting to life after treatment and may be facing some uncertainty. People may experience “scanxiety” as they approach planned surveillance scans and check-ups. Reconnecting with previous relationships and colleagues may not be straightforward to navigate; treatment can affect body image, intimate relationships and difficulties with eating or socialising for some types of cancer surgery or treatment.

Books:

  • Johnson, Delduca & Morris, (2021). Living your life with cancer through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Routledge

Podcasts and links:

Courses:

Support if you have treatable but not curable disease

Having cancer that is treatable but not curable can bring particular psychological challenges for patients and their loved ones. Living with uncertainty can be part of daily life. There may be times of watchful waiting when you do not have any active treatment, when cancer can be “in the background”, and periods of treatment when planning for life outside cancer is hard. It might help to focus on what you can control, rather than what you can’t.

Books:

Ray Owen (2013):Living with the enemy: coping with the stress of chronic illness

Links:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/work-and-cancer

Support for people facing terminal diagnoses

Patients may face a whole range of emotions if they are facing a terminal diagnosis and approaching the end of life, from fear and anxiety, to guilt at the impact on family members and understandably feeling overwhelmed. It’s a time that can also crystalise what’s important in life as people reflect.

Videos:

Books:

  • Simon Boas (2024), A beginners guide to dying
  • Deborah James (2018), F*** You Cancer
  • Kathryn Mannix (2022), With the End in Mind: How to Live and Die Well
  • Paul Kalanithi (2016), When breath becomes air

Links:

Support for loved ones & parenting with cancer

Cancer doesn’t just affect patients, it affects family and friends too. At times loved ones might be even more distressed than patients. Maggie’s, Charlies and Longfield all offer support to relatives. Parenting with cancer brings particular challenges, such as how to tell your children about your diagnosis, and how to support children during treatment and beyond. Below are some links and resources on supporting children during an adult’s cancer diagnosis and treatment:

Books for children / young people:

  • The invisible string, Patrice Karst (not cancer specific, about how a child is always connected by love (the invisible string)
  • Big tree is sick, Nathalie Slosse (picture book that explains chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a story, best for under 8s)

Bereavement resources

If a family member or friend very sadly dies, grief is a natural response to the loss of a loved one. Often using our usual ways of coping and with friends and family around us helps us through the early stages of grief, but some people find it helpful to have additional support.

Books:

  • “You will be ok” by Julie Stokes – an accessible book on coping with grief for teens and upwards.
  • “Badger’s parting gift” by Susan Varley – picture book for younger children.
  • “The bear-shaped hole” & “the hare-shaped hole” by John Dougherty
  • “Muddles, puddles and sunshine”, Diana Crossley -children’s activity book when someone has died.

Links:

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