ConquerFear-Group: A Psychological Intervention for Fear of Cancer Recurrence

The intervention consist of one 1½-hour individual session in which a psychologist will conduct an oral psychological assessment, and five 2-hour group sessions. The key goals of the intervention are to: a) teach strategies for controlling worry and excessive threat monitoring; b) modify underlying unhelpful beliefs about worry; c) develop appropriate monitoring and screening behaviors; d) educate about follow-up care and empirically-supported behavioral change (e.g., weight loss, exercise, etc.) to improve overall survival; e) address existential changes brought about by a cancer diagnosis; f) promote goal-setting. Each session is accompanied by home-based practice of skills learned in session and home reading to consolidate skill acquisition. Four trained psychologists (MSc) will perform the therapy. The intervention will be delivered on Zoom, a secure online platform.

The control group will receive one 1½-hour individual session and participate in five 2-hour group sessions. Patients will receive guided progressive muscle relaxation training. The intervention will be delivered on Zoom, a secure online platform.