Anxiety, Stress and Worry
It is really common and understandable to experience worry and anxiety at various stages of your cancer journey. You might find yourself worrying more about the process of what will happen to you and how you will cope with treatments. You may also find yourself struggling with uncertainty and fears for the future. The handouts below provide some tools that you may find helpful in managing these feelings. They include techniques such as grounding that can help you stay in the present moment.
Emotional Regulation
Sometimes you may find it really difficult to manage your emotions. Below are some handouts that you may find useful in managing your emotional responses.
Self Care
Taking care of yourself when you are in distress is a really important and often neglected tool. The handouts below include some ideas for self care.
Sleep and Fatigue
It is really common to struggle with sleep and this can make it harder to deal with everything. Below are handouts for sleeping better.
Treatment
This is a therapeutic technique that can be helpful in reducing intrusive trauma memories. The handout provides more information on EMDR. This technique needs to be used by a qualified, trained professional and is not something that you can use on your own. However the information is included here in case this is a technique that may be suggested by your clinician.
Relaxation Exercises
Below you will find two types of relaxation exercise. The first focuses on breathing which some people find really useful to feel calmer. Others might find focusing on breathing stressful, so we have included an alternative exercise which involves tensing and relaxing your muscles. Please choose the one that suits you best. There are also some recordings below that you can listen to.
Recordings
Calm Place
Colour Breathing Technique
Mindfulness of Sound
Simple Body Scan
Soothing Rhythm Breathing