Info for health professionals on breast cancer

Working Together to Help Patients and Clients Heal and Recover

Information for Health Professionals

If you are reading this page, Welcome!

I'm sure we share the same vision - to provide patients and clients with the best possible cancer care. Working together creates a wonderful opportunity for us to achieve this vision.

Click Here if You Want to Make a Referral

First, Let Me Explain What I Do

I give women with breast cancer evidence based tools and skills to adjust to life after a cancer diagnosis, from navigating treatment through to living with advanced and terminal cancer.

The science shows these tools and skills play a protective role in cancer progression as well as improving quality of life regardless of prognosis.

I will also share with you an interesting discovery I made when I ran my Online Founders Program, Beyond Breast Cancer Blueprint.

This Is What Health Care Professionals Tell Me

Whether you're an experienced healthcare professional or just starting out, or whether you have a non-health related role, working with patients or clients with breast cancer can be personally and professionally challenging and even confronting sometimes.

Feeling limited by your role to help your patient's distress, pain, fatigue, their fear of recurrence, stress levels, can leave you feeling helpless, and perhaps less effective than you would like to be, so what can you do to change this?

Providing Exceptional Supportive Cancer Care

But what if there was something you could do to change your experience AND genuinely work together to provide effective help to your patients or clients?

What if you could say to the women you work with that there is a scientifically studied solution that can buffer them from cancer progression?
What if you could point women to evidence-based strategies that work, to reduce their psychological distress?
What if you gave your clients access to tried and tested interventions to help them adapt and cope with their cancer and side effects such as pain and fatigue?
What if you knew you could steer women towards a proven opportunity to improve their overall quality of life regardless of prognosis?

About My Unique Expertise

I specialise in working with women with breast cancer.

Since qualifying in 1988 as a social worker, I have specialised in the field of oncology tailoring my knowledge and skills to understand and address the unique set of needs and risks of women with breast cancer.

I have now developed an unparalleled, leading edge method for cancer healing and recovery. A Program that combines my extensive clinical experience, expertise in working with trauma, integrating cutting edge psychotherapy, somatic psychology and the latest neuroscience.

My approach provides women with breast cancer the missing piece in their Cancer Health Care Plan for healing and recovery by reducing psychopathology and cancer progression. [research references below]

My Interesting Discovery

When I analysed the pre and post measures of women who participated in my Founder Program, I discovered that all participants had significantly increased scores for kindness towards self, otherwise referred to as Self Compassion.

This is what the research tells us:

Self compassion has a protective role for cancer patients.

Reducing depression, which is linked with cancer progression
Moderating activation of the hypothalamic – pituitary – adrenal {HPA} which impacts the immune and endocrine systems in the chronic stress response and in depression
Reducing psychological distress
Improving overall quality of life

This is an emerging field that has clinical implications for us as practitioners.

Click Here if You Want to Make a Referral

The Link Between Self Compassion & Cancer, and Clinical Implications for Practitioners

The research consistently points to the link between self compassion - being kind, caring and nurturing to oneself, is a buffer against cancer progression and improves quality of life. Also that women with higher levels of self compassion adapt to and cope better with their cancer.

Kirstin Neff is a pioneer and leader in the field of self-compassion research and she has this to say:

"Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings – after all, who ever said you were supposed to be perfect?"

Kristen Neff

Data Analysis of Beyond Breast Cancer Blueprint

Participants completed the Self Compassion [ Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form (SCS-SF) ] pre and post Program which measures Self-Disparagement and Self-Care.

The results were exciting:

83.3% of participants increased their levels of self-compassion
66.67% more than doubled their scores on completion of the Blueprint.

Figure 1. Self-Compassion Scores for Beyond Breast Cancer Blueprint 2022

What Are the Clinical Implications for You as a Practitioner?

Here is a free checklist you can use to identify a patient/client with low levels of self-compassion.

Display feelings of inadequacy
See their failings as personal [rather than part of the human condition]
Believe others cope better than they do
Lack patience and understanding towards themselves
Tend to be hard on themselves despite what they are going through
See the worst in situations
Disapprove of and judge themselves harshly

If you recognise these traits in your patients or clients, you now know they are at risk of cancer progression, a reduced quality of life, and may be struggling to adjust to and cope with their cancer and treatment.

What Can You Do Now?

If you believe your patient or client can benefit from this support click here to refer them to me.

Click Here if You Want to Make a Referral

I will make personal contact with the person you refer to and offer them the options below.

My services include:

1-1 sessions [subsidised by Medicare in Australia]
A unique online Self Study Cancer Recovery and Healing Program - Beyond Breast Cancer Blueprint
The VIP Beyond Breast Cancer Blueprint which is a combination of the online study Program integrated with 1-1 session to achieve better results
Access to an online community of support facilitated by me with ongoing support and skills training

Click Here if You Want to Make a Referral

I can provide feedback at your request.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information and trusting that we can work together to support your patients or clients, and if you have any questions or would like me to provide training for your team, please contact me by clicking on the link below.

Contact Me

For the curious and for the skeptics, some Journal Article References for you to peruse:

References

Callewaert DM, Moudgil VK, Radcliff G, Waite R. Hormone specific regulation of natural killer cells by cortisol. Direct inactivation of the cytotoxic function of cloned human NK cells without an effect on cellular proliferation. FEBS Lett. 1991 Jul 8;285(1):108-10. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80736-m. PMID: 2065773.
Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards V, Koss MP, Marks JS. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Am J Prev Med. 1998 May;14(4):245-58. doi: 10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8. PMID: 9635069.
Pinto-Gouveia J, Duarte C, Matos M, Fráguas S. The protective role of self-compassion in relation to psychopathology symptoms and quality of life in chronic and in cancer patients. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2014 Jul-Aug;21(4):311-23. doi: 10.1002/cpp.1838. Epub 2013 Mar 25. PMID: 23526623.
Reiche EM, Morimoto HK, Nunes SM. Stress and depression-induced immune dysfunction: implications for the development and progression of cancer. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;17(6):515-27. doi: 10.1080/02646830500382102. PMID: 16401550.
Satin JR, Linden W, Phillips MJ. Depression as a predictor of disease progression and mortality in cancer patients: a meta-analysis. Cancer. 2009 Nov 15;115(22):5349-61. doi: 10.1002/cncr.24561. PMID: 19753617

Click Here if You Want to Make a Referral