Cancer and the experience of meaning: A group psychotherapy program for people with cancer

Cancer illness affects people in many ways, physical, financial, and existe ntial. In this paper we describe a proposed group intervention for individu als with advanced disease who want help finding a sense of meaning at this critical juncture in their lives. This intervention has a brief; semi-struc tured format, and is informed by the work of Viktor Frankl, empirical findi ngs in the area of meaning and trauma, and the empirical findings of other group interventions for cancer patients. Individual sessions focus on diffe rent aspects of meaning, including responsibility to others, creativity, tr anscendence, and ascertaining one's values and priorities. Having goals on which to focus and feeling like part Of a larger whole ave critically impor tant to the ability to find meaning and cope with terminal illness. Such go als may be generated by a number of sources, including connectedness with o thers, or a sense of the temporal continuity of one's own life despite the disruption posed by severe illness. Didactic discussions and experiential exercises hell, to facilitate explora tion of these various elements in group members' lives. The finite structur e of the intervention may also highlight these issues, as people who are fa ced with similar issues work together in a limited time frame in order to a ccomplish the goals they set out for themselves.