ABSTRACT
The response of both medical and university audiences to the approach has been extremely positive. Some clinicians expressed concern that the application of behavioral principles with very sick and terminally ill patients ignored existential and spiritual issues, but today objections are rare, and many hospitals and clinics routinely offer behavioral intervention to their patients. The cancer-treatment setting provides an unusually good opportunity to carry out clinically meaningful and methodologically rigorous individual analyses of important phenomena. The chapter describes the role of behavioral intervention in comprehensive cancer treatment, behavioral procedures to control aversive side effects of treatment, and behavioral intervention to control child distress during invasive procedures. A number of relaxation-distraction procedures have been developed to reduce anticipatory nausea and vomiting, including hypnosis, passive relaxation, active relaxation, and electromyographic biofeedback. Behavioral relaxation and attentional distraction have been effective in reducing pain and anxiety associated with invasive procedures.
