Description of a group cognitive behaviour therapy programme with cancer patients

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has already been shown to be highly effec tive in the treatment of various psychological disorders within mental heal th populations; however, it has not been widely tested in the treatment of cancer patients. In the last decade there has been growing interest in the application of CBT interventions within psyche-oncology, and some studies h ave reported on its efficacy, both with individuals and in group-therapy co ntexts. To date there have been few descriptions of how a CBT programme for cancer patient groups can be structured and delivered. We present a descri ption of a 12-session CBT programme that has been developed by our centre, for delivery to cancer patient groups. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons , Ltd.