By Mariana Sierra

For us as psychologists is very important to work with strategies and techniques that are evidence-based. This allows us to offer our patients treatments that we know work for people with their characteristics, and, in addition, it is the best psychological treatment available for them at this time. To accomplish this are important two things: the constant updating, and research.

Fortunately, upgrade, research, and clinical practice go hand in hand. In the team of psycho-oncology, we have research that is being conducted. Some of them are specifically psycho-onco, and others are in conjunction with other health professionals, eventually so should be the care of a patient with cancer. Within the specific research of psycho-onco, we have a line related to thinking styles and emotional response. When you have a diagnosis like cancer we can have different ways of thinking, basically divided into three: focused on the search for meaning and solution of problems, called compromise cognitive; circling the problem and have repetitive thoughts that generate discomfort, called rumination; try not to think about the topic, called avoidance. Each of these is associated with different emotional responses, for example, rumination is associated to greater distress, anxiety and depression; the commitment cognitive is associated to growth post-traumatic stress disorder; and avoidance is associated with a decrease in emotional distress at the time (but not long-term). It is important because we can focus on modifying the style of thought and will, therefore, change the emotional response, and promote growth.

We have other research-related nausea in chemotherapy, Validation of instruments needs of survivors, Relationship between quality of life and nutritional status.

If you're interested in knowing more of what we do, or in collaborating with us, come to our team, my email is msierra@cancercentertec100.com