Psychotherapeutic practice in paediatric oncology: four examples

Psychotherapy, often used with children treated for a solid tumour, is seld om described. We present four examples of such therapies: a mother who refu sed enucleation for her 7-month-old boy; a boy's jealousy towards his siste r who was being treated for a brain tumour; a teenager troubled by his scar ; a 7-year-old boy embarrassed by the unconscious memory of his treatment w hen he was 5 months old. All names have been changed, for reasons of privac y. Psychotherapies aim to help children and parents to cope with the violen t experience of having cancer, to recover their freedom of thought and deci sion-making concerning their life, their place in the family, their body im age, their self-esteem, their identity. These descriptions of brief psychot herapy could help paediatricians to gain a more thorough understanding of t he child's experience, to improve collaboration with psychotherapists and t o confront clinical skills of psychotherapists. (C) 2000 Cancer Research Ca mpaign.