Practical ways to cope with emotional effects of cancer!

As a parent your world has changed with the cancer diagnosis of your child. As most people describe, it is a rollercoaster ride for your child and you. While you have to deal with day-to-day medical treatments, jobs, family and friends, you don’t normally notice how much this whole experience is draining you physically and emotionally.

We have teamed up with experts to hopefully give you and your child practical ways of coping with the emotional effects of cancer. It includes suggestions of how you can help yourself, your child and your family as well as other sources of help and support.

 

 

4 Effective Stress Coping Strategies To Avoid Burnout And Cope With Your Child's Cancer

By Jennifer Day, Executive Coach and Author, London UK

Holly had been diagnosed with childhood leukaemia at the age of one. She was now six and, according to the headmaster at her brothers’ school, (where I was counsellor) the pressures involved were taking their toll on the whole family. When Holly’s mother Jill contacted me however, it was not because of Holly’s condition. Jill had reached her limits she told me, because of Brian, her husband who had become...

October 1, 2012
 

 
Open Up Your Child's Inner Healing Abilities With Bedtime Stories

By Stacy Casaluci, Independent Writing and Editing Professional, Los Angeles, USA

Most of us realize the importance of a good bedtime story as children and parents, or reading before we go to sleep at night as an adult. It’s a way to wind down, relax our minds, or take us away to another place.

September 29, 2012
 

 
Parenting a Child with Cancer

By Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D., California, USA

The psychological literature identifies the importance of giving children space as they grow so they can become more independent. If your child has been diagnosed with cancer, how does that impact your ability to let go? Of course you want your kids to develop the inner strength and skills to be on their own. But these are particular circumstances.

February 12, 2012
 

 
Talking with Your Spouse When Your Child Has Cancer

By Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D., California, USA

Are you having trouble talking meaningfully with your spouse about your fears these days? You've probably found that when your child develops cancer, it changes every aspect of your family life, threatening your sense of stability and changing your parenting roles.

February 5, 2012
 

 
Helping Children to Transcend Fear: Tuning into Peace and Joy

By Laura Bedford, Inner peace teacher and vibrational awareness/energy practitioner, Chicago USA

Is there anything worse than a child who is afraid or in pain? What can we do to support little ones and adolescents who are going through cancer treatment to feel safely held? Likely, you are already doing everything possible. The focus for this article is to share a few ideas that support easing a child’s fears and upsets and to enchant the wildly active imaginations of children, which...

January 29, 2012
 

 

WHY?

Why in my brain?
It caused me so much pain.
Why in my head?
Perhaps somewhere else instead.
Why in my brain?
We tried a fluid drain.

I just want to walk like you.
I’ve had enough now, haven’t you too?

Poem from Sophie Pollock who lost her battle with cancer in 2007.

Things you can do on Difficult Days

Talk about the child who has died.
Write a letter to him/her.
Eat his/her favourite food.
Watch a video of him/her.
Wear one of his/her clothes like a scarf.
Light a candle.
Look at photos.
Listen to his/her favourite music.
Visit the grave.
Cry, laugh, scream.
Release a balloon with a message.

Some tips for parents and siblings.

What’s the Point?

What’s the point of eyes,
If you’re not here to see?
What’s the point of ears,
If you cannot hear me?
Every sense on my body,
Useless as a broken toy,
What’s the point of beauty,
If you cannot enjoy?

Cry of a parent - by JK.