Helping Couples Cope with Women's Cancers

Karen Kayser, Professor, specializes in health psychology, social work in medical settings, intervention research, and couples therapy. She is the principal investigator of "Skills Training for Breast Cancer Patients and Their Partners" (funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Breast Cancer Research Program). Recently she co-organized the "International Meeting on the Developmental Course of Couples Coping with Stress" (supported by a grant from the American Psychological Association, Science Directorate). She teaches courses on family theories and research, couples therapy, and social work practice with women. She received her B.A. from Michigan State University and her M.S.W. and Ph.D. (Social Work & Psychology) from the University of Michigan.

• Assessment: Toward an Understanding of How Couples Cope with Cancer.- The Nature of Cancer and Its Psychosocial Challenges.- Why Work with Couples?.- Assessing the Couple’s Adjustment to Cancer.- Intervention: Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancers.- Integrating Tasks of Illness into the Couple’s Daily Routine.- Building Cognitive Coping Skills.- Communicating Support.- Expanding the Couple’s Coping Skills.- Enhancing Sexuality and Body Image.- Helping Children to Cope when a Mother Has Cancer.- Living with Cancer After Treatment Ends.

From the reviews: "A family systems/cognitive behavioral approach to dealing with the stressors felt by a woman who is diagnosed with breast or gynecological cancer and her intimate partner. ... This book would make an excellent text for a graduate-level health psychology course dealing with the psychology of illness. It also would be good for a clinician ... . is a current, up-to-date refresher on the literature of how illness affects the individuals diagnosed as well as the loved ones who support and help care for them." (Leslie B. Rosen, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (42), October, 2008) "Helping Couples Cope with Women's Cancers is a guide that describes an approach to working with couples who are dealing with early stage breast or gynecological cancers. ... Overall, this book is a useful resource for clinicians working with women coping with breast or gynecological cancers. ... this book will serve as a helpful guide for clinicians working with this patient population." (Sharon L. Manne, Psycho-Oncology, Vol. 18, 2009)