Books about coping with cancer
for patients, family caregivers and therapists
(by Lawrence LeShan and Ruth Cohn Bolletino)
By Lawrence LeShan:
Cancer as a Turning Point
Revised edition, Plume 1994
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Lawrence Leshan has worked with cancer patients for over forty years. His research has led people with cancer to find new, effective ways to fight for their lives. In this book he shows how psychological and life-style changes, coupled with medical treatment, can mobilize a compromised immune system for healing. The book includes a life-transforming workbook of hands-on exercises to mobilize our self-healing abilities by leading a richer, fuller, more meaningful life.
“Inspiring… encouraging… Tenderly and compassionately written, it acts almost like a loving companion."
- Modern Maturity
"Cancer as a Turning Point is the summation by a great pioneer of cancer psychotherapy of his creative, original, and iconoclastic contribution to the field.
- Advances in Mind-Body Medicine
“Inspiring.”
– Literary Journal
Beyond Technique:
Psychotherapy in the 21st Century
Jason Aaronson, 1996
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How to Meditate
Bantam (any edition)
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The Dilemma of Psychology
Dutton, 1990
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By Ruth Bolletino:
How to Talk with Family Caregivers about Cancer
W.W.Norton, September 2009
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“As a doctor who has worked with many cancer patients, I have studied how to help them with the difficult emotional challenges that can come with the diagnosis. When a beloved in my own family received a serious cancer diagnosis, I became so distraught that I couldn’t think clearly and didn’t know what to do. This wonderful book calmed me, focused me, and helped me stay present and genuinely helpful. Ruth Bolletino is a seasoned, compassionate professional who can teach any caregiver, professional, or family to truly support people with cancer.”
- Martin Rossman, MD, author of Fighting Cancer from Within
Cancer affects not only the person who is ill, but the entire family. The therapist working with family caregivers must help them navigate turbulent emotions and bewildering medical, practical, and psychological issues. Their main concerns are How can I deal with this terrible situation? and How can I help the person I love? This book addresses both of these questions and much more.
Drawing on years of clinical experience with patients and those closest to them, Bolletino offers an approach emphasizing the uniqueness of each client and the importance of understanding their experiential world. The result is a practical and sensitive guide to providing emotional and intellectual support to caregivers during a crisis overturning their lives.
“Without disciplined compassion and an open-hearted acceptance of other experiences and worldview, the work of therapists and counselor degenerates into the mechanical. Bolletino, in her description of the special problems of caregivers of people with cancer, demonstrates and teaches what psychotherapy is at its best: a human interaction moving toward both curing and healing the client. I know of no group of therapists or counselors, advanced or beginning, who would not benefit from reading this book.”
- Lawrence LeShan, Ph.D., author of Cancer as a Turning Point and Beyond Technique: Psychotherapy for the 21st Century
“Seldom have I read a book that radiates such wisdom and compassion from every page…This landmark work will lessen the toll that cancer takes on caregivers, and in so doing will benefit those suffering from cancer as well. Bolletino sets a new standard in insight, clarity, conciseness, and caring. Highly recommended.”
- Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words, The Power of Premonition, Meaning and Medicine, Reinventing Medicine, and others; Editor-in chief, “Explore: the Journal of Science and Healing”
