Psychoncology in the EMC

Thanks to the achievements of modern medicine, the diagnosis of cancer has ceased to sound like a death sentence that cannot be appealed. However, this diagnosis in any case radically changes the whole lifestyle, and oncologists all over the world consider the correction of the patient's psycho–emotional state to be the most important aspect of complex cancer therapy. Understanding the relevance and complexity of this problem led to the emergence of psychoncology, a branch of oncology that has become a separate field that integrates psychological and social technologies to correct the patient's condition during this difficult period of his life.

In early September, a seminar on topical psychoanalytic techniques was held at the University of Graz (Austria), with which the European Medical Center has been fruitfully cooperating for several years. At the invitation of the organizers, Natalia Rivkina, a psychotherapist and head of the EMC Psychotherapy Clinic, attended the event.

The seminar was led by Dr. Lea Badner, the world's leading expert in the field of psychoanalysis.

The seminar in Graz focused, in particular, on the support that the patient and his family members need in the first weeks after the news of the diagnosis. It is this period that is characterized by a shock reaction, and it is during this period that it is especially important to understand and accept what happened in order to be ready to face the disease together, a task that is sometimes impossible to cope with without the qualified help of a specialist.

Unfortunately, in modern Russian medicine, too little attention is paid to the aspects of psychoemotional support for patients suffering from serious illnesses - the specialists of the EMC psychotherapy clinic can rightfully be called pioneers of this field. As Natalia Rivkina noted, attending events such as the September seminar at the University of Graz will not only help our clinic's patients by putting into practice the experience gained by the world's leading psychoanalyst specialists, but also share this experience with Russian colleagues.