Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MCM - MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Michelle Napoli

Abstract

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a major problem for many cancer survivors. As cancer treatments improve and more people are surviving cancer, FCR will likely become a larger problem in general for the healthcare system. Art therapists working with cancer survivors need to be prepared for addressing FCR as they are likely to encounter this clinical issue. A literature search was conducted and no research investigating art therapy specifically for FCR was found, indicating there is currently no empirically supported approach to art therapy for FCR. Mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies appear to be efficacious for reducing effects of FCR. One of these therapies, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), has a growing body of research demonstrating efficacy for managing FCR. Art therapists may want to integrate art therapy with ACT when supporting adults with FCR. More research and clinical attention are needed to understand the effects of art therapy on FCR, and to develop a best practice and evidence base.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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