A Case of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a Hematologic Cancer Patient with Suspected Chemical Coping

Abstract

This paper reports a case of cognitive behavioral therapy for a hematologic cancer patient with suspected chemical coping. In this case, anxiety occurred prior to the use of rescue medication, and rescue medication was used not only to relieve pain, but also to reduce anxiety. Therefore, the intervention by the clinical psychologist to reinforce the behavior of talking about the anxiety of hospitalization during the interview seemed to have reduced the anxiety and eliminated chemical coping. In this case, chemotherapy was introduced prior to the timing at which the intervention was initiated, which limits our ability to explain the disappearance of chemical coping solely by the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy. However, even new concepts such as chemical coping suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy can be adapted in the form of case formulation to focus on and reinforce the patient’s innate skills.