THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HEALING: INTEGRATION OF CAM THERAPIES IN BREAST CANCER TREATMENTS

Abstract

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), are therapies that can aid in the symptoms and emotional distress associated with breast cancer. The integrative health of the patient is explored through the following question - “How might CAM therapies, specifically yoga, massage therapy and Chinese medicine, collectively contribute to the psychology of healing in breast cancer patients?”. Breast cancer patients and survivors have constant emotional distress and physical problems with their diagnosis and subsequent treatment (Kacel et al. 2019). Yoga and meditation have been shown to have anti-depressive effects (Rao 2019), decrease IL-6 and salivary cortisol levels (Lengacher et al. 2019), and provide the ability to enhance acceptance of emotions (Henderson et al. 2012). Chinese Medicine has varying effects on breast cancer treatments symptoms such as: alleviating hot flushes and insomnia, reduce the risk of endometrial cancer induced by tamoxifen, and improve bone loss (Wang et al. 2019). Massage therapy techniques are helpful in aiding the physical toll of cancer. Swedish massage therapy (SMT) showed clinically significant relief of cancer related fatigue (CRF) (Kinkead 2017) and Classical massage may decrease the side effects of chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy from paclitaxel (Izgu et al. 2019). Through these CAM therapies, by treating the patient as a whole and being dedicated to their health in an all-encompassing approach, patients can achieve their new-found definition of health throughout their cancer journey.