This is a compassionately written journal tool for women who have chosen to participate in group counselling after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. It is intended to be used in concert with its companion book for group therapists, "Group Psychotherapy for Women with Breast Cancer". Using a voice that conveys respect for and knowledge of the varieties of experience a breast cancer diagnosis can bring, it challenges the reader to delve as deeply as she can into her individual experience. Intimate details of the illness and its life-altering effects on the self, family, work, love relationships and friendships are explored. The authors also provide information about communicating with ones medical team while encouraging readers to consider sensitive issues such as negotiating financial and workplace challenges, approaching sexuality and intimate relationships and developing new techniques to reprioitize nutritional, physical and spiritual self-care.
Finding Your Way; How Are You Coping?; Breast Cancer Treatment; Coping with Side Effects; Communicating with Members of Your Medical Team; Family and Friends; Work; Body Image and Sexuality; Feeling Better - Relaxation, Nutrition and Exercise; Ending Treatment; Suggestions for the Soul; Finishing the Group.