Meaning-centered group psychotherapy in Portuguese cancer patients: A pilot exploratory trial

Spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning are important influences for quality of life (QoL) in patients with advanced cancer (Field and Cassel, 1997; Sinclair et al., 2006). The importance of the existential care lead to the emergence of meaning-focused interventions (Breitbart, 2002; Chochinov et al., 2005; Puchalski, 2013) in advanced cancer patients or terminally ill (Yalom and Greaves, 1977; Spiegel et al., 1981; Edelman et al., 1999; Edmonds et al., 1999; Classen et al., 2001; Kissane et al., 2003, 2007; Lee et al., 2006; Breitbart et al., 2010; Chochinov et al., 2011). In response to this need, Breitbart and his investigation group developed meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) to help patients with advanced cancer sustain or enhance a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives, even as they approach the end of life (Breitbart, 2000, 2002; Greenstein and Breitbart, 2000; Breitbart et al., 2010, 2015; Van der Spek et al., 2013; Applebaum et al., 2015). MCP was first developed in a group format (meaning-centered group psychotherapy — MCGP), which is a manualized eight-week intervention (each session: 1.5 h) that utilizes a combination of didactics, experiential exercises and discussion (Breitbart, 2002). The first randomized control trial (RCT) showed benefits in enhancing spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning (Breitbart et al., 2010). Further studies suggested that more severe forms of despair respond better to existential interventions (Breitbart et al., 2015).