Counseling & Support: Help for Caregivers, Families & Friends

Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers services for those affected by the illness of someone close to them.

Extra Help at Home

If a family member or friend is leaving the hospital and requires extra help at home, including home care or other aftercare, equipment, or supplies, please speak to the case manager on his or her floor in charge of discharge planning.

If a family member or friend is an outpatient and is in need of extra help at home, please speak to his or her doctor or nurse, who will coordinate such care with Case Management.

Depending on the details of an individual's insurance coverage and the clinical situation, certain services, equipment, and supplies may or may not be covered. If a service is not covered, you case manager can provide you with information about fee-for-service companies.

Caregiver Support Groups

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Family members and friends who handle the responsibility of caring for a cancer patient can join other caregivers in a supportive environment to share their feelings and concerns. These meetings are held in various Memorial Sloan-Kettering locations and, in some cases, are convened for the caregivers of patients with specific types of cancers.

To find out about these caregiver programs, ask the patient's doctor, nurse, or social worker or call the Department of Social Work at 212-639-7020.

An online monthly support group for caregivers of adult Memorial Sloan-Kettering patients in active treatment for cancer meets the last Wednesday of the month from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. If you are interested in registering for this virtual group, or want to receive more information, please e-mail us at virtualgroups@mskcc.org.

A guide for caregivers was prepared for the caregivers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering patients, but it contains helpful resources and advice for all caregivers. 

Talking to Your Children about Cancer

Kids Express is an individualized program designed to help adult cancer patients communicate with their children about their illness. The Department of Social Work offers consultations and educational material to patients and families.

To arrange a consultation, please ask a social worker or call the Kids Express consultation line at 212-639-7029. Individual and family counseling, offered through the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, may also be helpful. To contact the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, call 646-888-0100.

Ethics Consultation Services

Treatment for cancer poses many difficult questions for family members. Sometimes, these questions are of an ethical nature. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, individuals who are faced with such questions can seek the help from the Ethics Committee. The committee provides members of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering community, including patients and their family members, with a multidisciplinary forum for the analysis, discussion, and resolution of ethical issues that arise in the care of patients.

Symptom Management and Support 

Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Pain and Palliative Care Service has special expertise in palliative care and the management of cancer related pain and other symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia, and nausea.

Whether in the hospital, at home, or in a long-term care facility, the Pain and Palliative Care Service can help with symptom management and palliative care. Your doctor or nurse can refer you to a member of the Pain and Palliative Care Service.

Complementary Therapies

The Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center is open to families and friends of Memorial Sloan-Kettering patients. Our Integrative Medicine Service offers therapies including massage, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, nutritional counseling, music therapy, and movement and therapy classes such as yoga. These techniques can help alleviate stress and anxiety, increase self-awareness, enhance a sense of well-being, and help prevent health-related problems.

Because massage techniques can often help alleviate certain symptoms and discomfort associated with cancer and cancer treatment, we offer a monthly touch therapy workshop for family and friends of Memorial Sloan-Kettering patients. You can learn how and when to use massage, the benefits and precautions of massage for patients with cancer, and basic massage techniques. 

For more information about our fee-for-service therapies and workshops or to make an appointment, call 646-888-0800.

Genetic Testing and Counseling

If you have had cancer at an early age, or have a family history of cancer, you may be interested in genetic counseling.

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The Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering has specially trained counselors and physicians who offer genetic counseling, genetic testing, and education regarding cancer risk to you and your family members. This information may be helpful as you make decisions regarding your medical care and possible risk for other cancers.

The Clinical Genetics Service may be of assistance to you if:

• you or a close relative has been diagnosed with with cancer at an early age
• you have more than one blood relative with the same type of cancer
• any one person in your family have more than one type of cancer
• anyone in your family has been diagnosed with bilateral (both sides) of cancer of paired organs, such as breasts, ovaries, or kidneys
• you are related to someone who is known to have an inherited genetic mutation that can cause cancer.

For consultations regarding genetic counseling, genetic testing, prophylactic (risk-reducing) surgery, and related issues, please call 646-888-4050.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering also has a psychologist specializing in decision-making and emotional stresses associated with an inherited predisposition to cancer. If you have already had genetic counseling and wish to meet with the Clinical Genetics Service, please call 646-888-0100.

Help in Bereavement

Although many people complete their treatment and survive cancer, or experience long-term control of their disease, some do not. Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers services to help family and friends at this difficult time.

People who have lost someone close to them to cancer — such as a spouse, parent, sibling, or adult child — may find support and solace in talking with others who are also grieving. The Departments of Social Work, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences offer support groups for people with such needs. To learn more, or to join a bereavement support group, contact the Social Work Department at 212-639-7020.

For families that have lost a child to cancer, the Toward Tomorrow program helps parents come to terms with their loss. Parents are invited to join a monthly support meeting to remember and honor the special children treated here. Call 212-639-6850 for more information about this program.

When a patient dies, family and friends often find comfort and strength through the services of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's chaplains of the Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, and Muslim religions. Visits from clergy of other religions can also be arranged. The Mary French Rockefeller Chapel, a multifaith chapel near the main lobby on the first floor of Memorial Hospital, is open at all times for meditation and prayer. Services are held weekly, and on all holy days.

To contact the Department of Chaplaincy Services, call 212-639-5982. To contact the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, call 646-888-0200.

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, couples, 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.

For more information, or to make an appointment, please call 646-888-0100.