ABSTRACT

The early and continuing psychological interventions of Lawrence LeShan with terminal cancer patients have produced a better rate of remission with certain patients than any known form of chemotherapy. Judy Lerner and Maureen Reid-Cunningham present a personal and professional discussion of Lerner's illness and injury. With regard to cancer, prolonging life as a result of psychotherapy or participation in a support group is typically not viewed as valid and 'real' as from physical medicine, particularly the harshest forms such as chemotherapy. Given the startling statistics involving the growing incidence of illnesses such as the many forms of cancer and autoimmune disorders among people in general and women in particular, even more of us will be directly affected by contracting one of these diseases or having someone close to us do so. The articles dealing with these illnesses range from the intimate to the academic, the personal to the scholarly, that admixture that is the hallmark of feminist psychology.