This book began as an idea over thirty years ago, when I was working with people who had cancer, and their families. It seemed to me that no matter what emotions patients and family members were expressing – anger, sadness, fear, despair, determination or hope – they were all seeking to cope well and regain their sense of personal control that had disappeared when cancer was first diagnosed. At the same time, I also noticed that it was a real struggle for most patients and family members to do so. Ever since then, I have been motivated to find out how to return a sense of personal control and help people cope with their changing worlds.
Researchers study scientific literature to find information that’s sound, tried and proven, and so I investigated research reports and literature from nursing, medicine, psychology, education, social work, religion, philosophy, and management. I found several methods that were proven to help restore that sense of personal control and improve or support good coping.