Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) Therapy

Overview

Managing cancer and living meaningfully (CALM) is a brief, semi-structured individual intervention designed to alleviate distress and promote psychological growth in individuals with advanced disease. This intervention emerged from a longitudinal program of research and from the theoretical traditions of relational, attachment, and existential theory. Through a process that supports affect regulation, attachment security, and reflective functioning, CALM focuses on four content domains:
1. Symptom management and communication with healthcare providers
2. Changes in self and relations with close others
3. Sense of meaning and purpose
4. Sense of the future and mortality.
Qualitative research has shown that cancer patients experience the structure of CALM as a safe place to explore fears, to be seen in human terms, and face the challenges of advancing disease. Quantitative studies have shown that CALM leads to a reduction in depressive symptoms and death anxiety and an increase in spiritual well-being. (Rodin G, 2015).