Counseling
Every woman with breast cancer experience can contact the Association and receive counseling services from a social worker and psychologist, depending on her needs and the stage of treatment she is in.
Counseling Goals
Counseling, as a process of psychosocial support and rehabilitation, is an important service of the Association, aiming at:
- Immediate treatment of the crisis caused by the diagnosis of breast cancer.
- Immediate relief and regulation of unpleasant emotions (stress, fear of metastasis / death, anxiety, worry, depression).
- Accepting body image changes.
- Adapting to new life conditions.
- Improving patient’s functionality.
- Supporting patient’s defense strategies.
- Patient’s quality re-activation and rehabilitation.
- Relationship management between family members and ways to inform her children or other protected members of her family or people of her environment.
- Leveraging the crisis caused by the diagnosis of breast cancer.
- Managing potential psychopathology.
Participation Requirements
Counselling services are provided to the Association’s members and their relatives free of charge. Furthermore, any woman with breast cancer or any other interested person can have their first counseling session free of charge regardless of their state of membership in the Association.
Program duration
Counseling sessions are held at the Association’s headquarters throughout the year, by appointment.
The number of sessions with the social worker and the psychologist may vary depending on the phase of treatment and patient’s psychological situation.
Maximum counselling sessions by psychologist:25
How can I participate?
Anyone interested in counselling can communicate with Alma Zois by telephone to arrange their first appointment with the social worker.
During the first session woman’s or relative’s needs are detected. Depending on the psychological state of the one having the counseling, either the person continues counselling by having extra sessions with the social worker or its being referred to a psychologist, otherwise counseling ends.