Cognitive-Existential Group Therapy and Cognitive Instructional Therapy for Breast Cancer Patients

this study aimed to compare the two therapeutic interventions: cognitive-instructional therapy (Free, 1999) and cognitive-existential group therapy (Kissane et al. 1997), in improving psychological problems in depressed patients with breast cancer. Forty depressed women (ages 20-65) with breast cancer were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one withness group. The sample group did not have a history of psychiatric symptoms prior to the cancer and when the study was con- ducted they scored above average on Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (1991). All the three groups responded to the Beck Depression Inventory-II (1996), Miller Hope Scale (Miller & Powers, 1988) and Self-Esteem (Pope & McHale, 1988) and Quality of Life (Aaron- son et al. 1993) questionnaires before and after 12 weekly sessions of ninety-minute intervention. MANCOVA results indicated that the depression was lower and hopefulness was higher in the cognitive-existential than in the cognitive-instructional therapy group. The self-esteem and quality of life means of the two therapy groups were not significantly different. The means of the four variables for both therapy groups significantly differed with those of the withness group. Findings are discussed in terms of the underpinnings of the two therapeutic approaches and the design of intervention.