Cancer Care West has launched an expanded support service for children affected by a diagnosis of cancer in the family.
There has been a significant increase in the number of children being referred to the west of Ireland cancer charity, whose parent or sibling has been diagnosed with cancer in recent years.
The diagnosis of cancer can be a very stressful time in the life of a family, causing uncertainty, changes in family routines, an increased level of anxiety, frequent hospital visits and physical changes such as an increased level of fatigue.
While children can be very resilient, they can also feel stressed.
Cancer Care West has decided to expand a range of therapeutic play skills to children in order to provide them with skills and innovative ways of dealing with cancer within the family.
From a child’s perspective, the freedom to express their feelings and to feel included in the family’s experience of cancer is often the most helpful support.
“Although our natural instinct is to protect them from the cancer diagnosis, often what children imagine is worse than the reality and they can really benefit from talking about what’s happening in the family,” said a spokesperson.
Play therapy uses a variety of play and creative art therapies, including toys, art, therapeutic storytelling, puppets, clay and play dough and creative visualisation to help children to find a way of speaking about how they are feeling.
“With the support of the therapist, therapeutic play provides a safe space, medium and language whereby a child can identify and communicate what they may have difficulty in articulating,” she said.
“Of paramount importance is for the child to be able to identify emotions and to explore anxieties. This can help them to learn skills to help them cope with what can be a stressful time in the family.”
Cancer Care West will also be launching the Climb programme at its service in Galway during the coming months. This is a programme for children aged between five and 12 whose parent has been diagnosed with cancer.
It allows them to come together and talk about their experiences.
The services are free of charge. For further details log onto their website or call 091 540040. The drop-in centre at 72 Seamus Quirke Road is open from 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
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