Facing Cancer and the Fear of Death A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Treatment [Hardcover]

In Facing Cancer and the Fear of Death, the psychoanalyst Norman Straker...enriches the work enormously by allowing us to look into the minds of cancer patients, some our own colleagues, as they face these difficult and painful times. . . .[T]he varying voices combine to create an emotionally meaningful, deeply intelligent work. I think everyone, and not just therapists, should read this book. We all face death, many of us in the specter of cancer, and the experiences, difficulties, and resolutions described here could help us navigate the challenging times.In this compilation of essays, Norman Straker of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and his colleagues offers helpful perspectives into the widespread death anxiety that affects individual health care decisions as well as large-scale policy imperatives. ... The reader is provided with a unique opportunity to peer inside varying states of existential threat, guided by analysts of superior psychological insight. ... On the whole, the text is succinct, well written, and wide ranging in its sources of knowledge while staying grounded in psychiatric theory. Palliative care clinicians will likely find this book to be interesting and helpful. The issue of deciding the optimal use of the psychoanalytic frame (and which rules to break) has relevance for palliative care consultants who often navigate the difficult waters of end-oflife decision making. The psychiatric perspective featured in the book provides palliative care clinicians with a refreshing approach to understanding complex psychodynamics in various clinical settings. The personal essays as well as case presentations are bracing in their honesty and are invaluable sources of insight for all who care for seriously ill patients.The issues dealt with in this book are topical and real. It was interesting to read about the psychological needs in end-of-life care from a slightly different angle (i.e. by psychoanalysts), and the potential benefits of palliative cal#r