Commonly, the child is not capable of understanding or agreeing to treatment, causing the parents to play an essential role as they receive the information that their child has a life-threatening disease and begin coming to treatment-related conclusions (Kazak & Noll, 2015). Typically, a social environmental model is utilized to comprehend the numerous impacts on the child and their family (Kazak & Noll, 2015; Harrington, Kimball & Bean, 2009). A psychologist on the pediatric oncology team may emphasize the importance of exploring features of the child’s social environment that significantly contribute to issues associated with the cancer. Usually, children are capable of adjusting to and coping with the challenges of treatment without exhibiting marked psychological problems if the support of family, friends, and health care team members is present (Kazak & Noll, 2015). Although, there are anticipated immediate and temporary reactions of anguish throughout the duration of treatment that psychologist can assist in alleviating. For example, the children may experience distress related to being separated from their parents, fear of the unfamiliar environment, treatment side effects, fear of medical procedures or needles, and changes in their daily routine both socially and academically (Kazak & Noll, 2015; Harrington, Kimball & Bean, 2009). Also, the child’s family …show more content…
Over the previous 20 years, there has been substantial interest in determining evidence-based practices that have the possibility to promote coping and reduce psychological late effects for the individuals and their families experiencing childhood cancer (Kazak & Noll, 2015). For instance, cognitive behavioral and family therapy approaches have been used within a medical trauma context to alleviate or preclude posttraumatic stress symptoms and improve the family dynamics (Kazak & Noll, 2015; Harrington, Kimball & Bean, 2009). Studies have demonstrated that adolescent cancer survivors and their family members exhibited noticeable decreases in intrusive thoughts and arousal when using interventions that integrate cognitive behavioral and family therapy as part of the medical treatment plan (Kazak & Noll, 2015). Integrating health care professionals as a collaborative part of the medical treatment team when treating childhood cancer, such as to help alleviate treatment-associated symptoms and side effects or facilitate a supportive family