ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how art therapy can be utilized as a visual narrative to allow an adult to better cope with a cancer diagnosis, supporting his or her emotional state and providing a sense of comfort though art imagery. It presents the compilation of 16 years of work within a medical center focused on the psychosocial health of cancer survivors and doctoral research into patients’ experience of cancer through the visual narratives process. The chapter focuses on the cancer patient or survivor, but the visual narratives process may be applicable to patients with alternative life-changing events or to family members navigating the experience alongside patients. The seasons of survivorship start at diagnosis; through diagnosis and treatment, cancer survivors were said to be in the acute season. The audience selection may include oncology professionals, other cancer survivors, those newly diagnosed with cancer, the general public, or a specific target audience.
