Meaning-centered group psychotherapy in Portuguese cancer patients: A pilot exploratory trial

Spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning are important influences for quality of life (QoL) in patients with advanced cancer (Field and Cassel, 1997; Sinclair et al., 2006). The importance of the existential care lead to the emergence of meaning-focused interventions (Breitbart, 2002; Chochinov et al., 2005; Puchalski, 2013) in advanced cancer patients or terminally ill (Yalom and Greaves, 1977; Spiegel et al., 1981; Edelman et al., 1999; Edmonds et al., 1999; Classen et al., 2001; Kissane et al., 2003, 2007; Lee et al., 2006; Breitbart et al., 2010; Chochinov et al., 2011). In response to this need, Breitbart and his investigation group developed meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) to help patients with advanced cancer sustain or enhance a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives, even as they approach the end of life (Breitbart, 2000, 2002; Greenstein and Breitbart, 2000; Breitbart et al., 2010, 2015; Van der Spek et al., 2013; Applebaum et al., 2015). MCP was first developed in a group format (meaning-centered group psychotherapy — MCGP), which is a manualized eight-week intervention (each session: 1.5 h) that utilizes a combination of didactics, experiential exercises and discussion (Breitbart, 2002). The first randomized control trial (RCT) showed benefits in enhancing spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning (Breitbart et al., 2010). Further studies suggested that more severe forms of despair respond better to existential interventions (Breitbart et al., 2015).P30 CA008748info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alexithymia, emotional awareness and perceived dysfunctional parental behaviors in heroin dependents

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com © Springer Science+Business MediaThe aim of this study was to analyse alexithymia and deficits in emotional awareness, in heroin addicts, and their relationship with perceptions of early parental interactions. The sample included 99 opiate dependent outpatients and 43 healthy controls. Assessment was performed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale, the Inventory for Assessing Memories of Parental Rearing Behavior, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Findings suggest parental representations, which were mostly characterized by emotional unavailability and a rejection interaction pattern, significantly related to alexithymia. Emotional awareness was associated with the number of years of drug use and methadone level. Negative affect was associated with alexithymia but not to emotional awareness. Regression analyses emphasized the influence of perceived dysfunctional parenting behaviors in alexithymia and difficulties in identifying feelings, particularly an interaction with paternal rejection, moderated by self-reported anxiety. These results are discussed addressing comprehensive issues of emotion regulation and treatment strategies in heroin dependence