Closeness in Crisis

The experience of childhood cancer challenges
normative views of development for young families. At
the same time it reveals unique family resiliencies
that arise from creative and innovative ways of
responding to the impacts of the disease. The
hypothesis underlying the research proposal presented
in this book holds that a couple s relational
response to the threat of cancer in their child may
lead to greater closeness. This closeness, in turn,
allows couples to mount a powerful resistance to the
tyranny of cancer and its concomitant demands
(chemotherapy, hospitalization, frequent invasive
procedures, vigilant monitoring of blood counts and
side effects) on the family. The approach challenges
deficit-models of research and intervention which
focus on family pathology by proposing an interview
method designed to elicit specific resiliency factors
in the couple, focusing on their collective response
to cancer. The proposed framework not only provides
a template for future research, but presents a novel
way for counsellors, social workers and other
professionals to help couples who face the crisis of
a cancer diagnosis in their child.

Autorentext
Maureen Chute, MA, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor who
lives with her husband and two children in North Vancouver,
British Columbia. Her counselling work is focused on
family responses to chronic illness and grief and loss experiences.

Klappentext
The experience of childhood cancer challenges normative views of development for young families. At the same time it reveals unique family resiliencies that arise from creative and innovative ways of responding to the impacts of the disease. The hypothesis underlying the research proposal presented in this book holds that a couple's relational response to the threat of cancer in their child may lead to greater closeness. This closeness, in turn, allows couples to mount a powerful resistance to the tyranny of cancer and its concomitant demands (chemotherapy, hospitalization, frequent invasive procedures, vigilant monitoring of blood counts and side effects) on the family. The approach challenges deficit-models of research and intervention which focus on family pathology by proposing an interview method designed to elicit specific resiliency factors in the couple, focusing on their collective response to cancer. The proposed framework not only provides a template for future research, but presents a novel way for counsellors, social workers and other professionals to help couples who face the crisis of a cancer diagnosis in their child.