When women psychologists have cancer -- lessons shared

In a Thursday session that melded the professional with the personal, two psychologists shared their experiences and lessons learned on practicing psychology while undergoing treatment for cancer. In a symposium that was as inspiring and moving as it was informative, Drs. Jana Martin and Helen Coons told of the physical, emotional, ethical and clinical obstacles they tackled while battling their diseases.

The psychologists shared the session panel, titled "When Women Have Cancer--Clinical, Ethical and Personal Challenges," with moderator Dr. Josephine Johnson, also a cancer survivor, and Dr. Susan McDaniel.

While the session focused on women psychologists fighting cancer, the experiences shared can apply to any practitioner living with a debilitating or chronic illness.

Some tips they offered for those practicing with an illness:

Reach out to a colleague for support and supervision. Start out with a trusted colleague and then spread the news at your own pace. "It's scary especially if you are a private person or if you have strong family support," said Martin, who is in remission from follicular lymphoma. Martin made her first call to a colleague who had just underwent chemotherapy and could relate. She said she has strong family support, but it couldn't replace the value of talking to colleagues. Bonus if you can talk to someone with the same diagnosis or treatment.

Create as much flexibility as possible. Consider if you want to keep working and how. Everyone experiences the disease and treatment differently. For some people, working is not an option because of the pain, fatigue and other physical symptoms. Working may still be a possibility but be prepared to possibly cut back on hours, have colleagues on stand by or block out certain days or times. Working may actually be a healthy break from cancer.

You may be the world's greatest therapist, but you can't solve it yourself. And treating other cancer patients or family members isn't enough to prepare you for your own diagnosis and treatment. Coons has a practice comprised largely of cancer patients. And with a family history of breast cancer, she wasn't surprised to hear of her diagnosis. "But I wasn't prepared for having it while working in a clinical practice," she said. "I discovered that it triggered an inordinate amount of anxiety."

Don't try to be "supertherapist." Make reasonable decisions, make plans and use your resources efficiently. Look to do less clinical work. Consider doing more consulting or evaluations until you can focus more fully again on clients. Build your resilience, but understand that being resilient doesn't mean you're immune to having feelings.

The safety of your clients needs to remain a priority. Even years after remission, Coons said she still grapples with whether she should treat women who have lost someone to cancer. "It worries me greatly if I were to have a reoccurrence."

Reaching out to colleagues who had lived with cancer was empowering, Martin said. She saw that not only had they survived the disease, but they had also returned to living and working a normal life. "What I thought would be uncomfortable and embarrassing was actually very therapeutic. I could envision myself being here today and it helped strengthen my resilience. There was something about sharing with my colleagues that was a gift."