Psychological features of interaction with cancer patients and their relatives during the treatment process

Keywords: cancer patients, multidisciplinary approach, medical psychology, oncology.

Abstract

Interaction with a cancer patient requires professional psychological and communication skills from the doctor and includes an understanding of the patient's mental state, the manifestation of empathy and adequate information about the disease. The work of a medical psychologist in an oncological clinic, based on various and individual psychotherapeutic psychocorrectional methods, helps patients and their relatives overcome the negative behavioral and emotional consequences of the disease. The need to take into account the patient's adherence to treatment is especially acute in oncology. This requires the doctor to have special communication skills with patients, that can be provided to him by a medical psychologist. Characterization of these features was the purpose of the article. This is also the novelty of the article. The main points of the article are to highlight the new methods used by a medical psychologist to provide psychological support for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. These methods also focus the doctor's attention on the treatment being performed and the responsibility for its outcome. In this case, the psychological side of the disease: the personality of the patient himself, his experiences and psychoemotional state influencing the treatment are taken into account by the doctor to a lesser extent. The results of the completed research point out that interaction with a cancer patient requires professional psychological and communication skills from the doctor. Effective interaction between an oncologist and a patient includes an understanding of the feelings and mental state of a cancer patient, the manifestation of empathy and adequate information about the disease. For the effective implementation of psychological assistance, a medical psychologist needs to know the specifics of the mental states of cancer patients and the patterns of their course. A medical psychologist uses in his work a variety of psychotherapeutic and psychocorrectional methods that are selected for each patient individually after a preliminary conversation and clinical and psychological diagnostics of the mental state. The work of a psychologist in an oncological clinic helps patients and their relatives overcome the negative behavioral and emotional consequences of the disease.

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Published
2021-08-19
How to Cite
Bilous, O., Karamushka, T., & Shykovets, S. (2021). Psychological features of interaction with cancer patients and their relatives during the treatment process. Kyiv Journal of Modern Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2, 5-16. Retrieved from https://mpp-journal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/8