Couples therapy at end-of-life

Authors

David C. Mohr, University of California, San Francisco
Patricia Moran, University of California, San Francisco
Carolynn S. Kohn, University of the PacificFollow
Stacey Hart, University of California, San Francisco
Keith Srmstrong, University of California, San Francisco
Rodrigo Dias, University of California, San Francisco
Emily Berksland, University of California, San Francisco
Susan Folkman, University of California, San Francisco

ORCID

Carolynn S. Kohn: 0000-0002-2156-4898

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Psycho-oncology

Department

Psychology

ISSN

1057-9249

Volume

12

Issue

6

DOI

10.1002/pon.746

First Page

620

Last Page

627

Publication Date

1-1-2003

Abstract

This study reports on a preliminary uncontrolled study of a treatment for couples in which one partner is diagnosed with a terminal illness. In this study nine couples, in which one partner was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had less than 18 months to live, were offered eight sessions of couples therapy. Follow-up data were available for six couples. Two patients died during treatment and a third patient moved out of the area prior to completing the follow-up assessment. Significant decreases were seen in the patients’ distress about dying and the frequency of partners’ worry about their partner dying. Improvements were also seen in relationship quality. While the size of the study precludes generalizing these findings to a larger population, this study supports further exploration of couples therapy as a potentially useful adjunct to end of life care.

Recommended Citation

Mohr, D. C., Moran, P., Kohn, C. S., Hart, S., Srmstrong, K., Dias, R., Berksland, E., & Folkman, S. (2003). Couples therapy at end-of-life. Psycho-oncology, 12(6), 620–627. DOI: 10.1002/pon.746
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cop-facarticles/597