Group Interventions for Breast Cancer Survivors

MCG-BCS manual outlines 8 approximately, 90-minute modules: 1) Concepts \& Sources of Meaning; 2) Identity, Cancer Survivorship, \& Meaning; 3) Historical Sources of Meaning: Past Legacy; 4) Historical Sources of Meaning: Present \& Future Legacy; 5) Attitudinal Sources of Meaning: Encountering Life's Limitations; 6) Creative Sources of Meaning: Creativity \& Responsibility; 7) Experiential Sources of Meaning: Connecting with Life via Love, Beauty, \& Humor; and 8) Transitions: Reflections \& Hopes for the Future.

DG is a standardized, manualized group developed by the MSKCC Psychiatry Service and utilized in a similar form in our completed and ongoing RCTs of MCGP. Based on models described by Rogers and Bloch, the essential components include reassurance, explanation, education, encouragement, and permission for expression. The process emphasizes Rogerian concepts (e.g., empathic understanding) and avoids techniques that are not exclusively supportive. The content focuses on education about here-and-now topics relevant to BCS (e.g., maintaining and eliciting social support, financial strains, return to work, physical symptom management), allowing emotional expression and discussion of difficult topics.