Psychiatry Service Chief, William Breitbart (left), and other experts in our counseling center help people with cancer and their families manage the emotional issues that arise during treatment.
People with cancer and their families react to the diagnosis and the treatment that follows in a wide variety of ways.
It is normal to become worried, sad, angry, or feel anxious or isolated after learning you have any serious illness. You may have feelings of loss — of your health or of control in your life — and you could be frightened about what the future will bring. These feelings range in intensity from person to person and from one day to the next.
Many people find that counseling can help them manage the complications that being a cancer patient can add to life. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Counseling Center is available to help you manage distress you may feel as a cancer patient or family member.
Individual, Family, Couples, and Group Counseling
Our counselors are experienced in structuring counseling sessions to meet the specific needs of each person. These counseling sessions are most often structured as individual or family sessions, but the Counseling Center also sponsors some group sessions for patients or family members who might benefit from working with others in similar circumstances.
Counseling Center staff may also refer patients to other mental health specialists for longer-term counseling. Our counselors are available not only as an outpatient resource, they are also available to patients during their hospital stays.
Services provided include: diagnostic assessment and treatment of psychiatric complications of cancer and treatments; crisis intervention; medical management of psychiatric drug therapies; cognitive behavioral therapy; alleviating distress and coping with the side-effects of treatment such as insomnia, fatigue, and pain.
Alleviating Distress and Other Symptoms
Some symptoms of cancer and side effects of treatment — such as pain, poor sleeping, and fatigue — become worse when a person is anxious or depressed. Many patients find that counseling helps them manage these symptoms. Some people find that medication can help reduce distress and, indirectly, reduce the pain and fatigue they may be experiencing. An approach that combines both counseling and medication is often effective. To that end, our counselors work closely with Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Pain and Palliative Care Service and Integrative Medicine Service.
Research Studies
Current areas of research include cancer prevention, particularly in smoking cessation and genetic testing, and ways patients and their families can maintain and even increase a sense of meaning and purpose in life, despite cancer. Such research protocols are sometimes offered to eligible patients through the clinical trial process.
For Information about Counseling Center Services
Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Counseling Center welcomes all cancer patients — whether or not they are receiving care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. For more information, or to make an appointment, please call:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Counseling Center
641 Lexington Avenue, Seventh Floor
On 54th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues
New York, NY 10022
646-888-0100
