ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the eight key organizing principles, which form the bedrock of a re-visioned Cognitive Behavior Therapy for cancer patients. It discusses how these principles relate to and build upon one another to create a robust therapeutic framework. The principles are normalizing human suffering; balancing, acceptance, mindfulness, and change processes; a focus on transdiagnostic processes in psychological disorders; balancing cognitive and experiential interventions in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT); an increased focus on self-processes in therapy; a more contextual model of human functioning; a focus on strengths, resilience, and well-being; and the disciplined use of the therapist's self in fostering the treatment relationship. A study has suggested that specific types of worry and avoidance behaviors are related to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder in cancer patients. Mindfulness with cancer patients serves to help patients pause, attend, notice, choose, and act.
