Treatment for breast cancer can be a harrowing experience for some and many women find complementary therapies can help them to survive the physical and mental challenges of treatment.
Complementary therapies include activities such as massage, meditation, acupuncture, and aromatherapy. They are not a substitute for conventional medicine, but can sometimes help women to cope better with treatment, both physically and emotionally.
Trish Melville is the Clinical Services Manager at Auckland’s dove house, which offers a range of holistic and complementary therapies for those with secondary cancer and those currently undergoing treatment for primary cancer.
She says complementary therapies can help to give people with cancer the time and space to escape the emotional rollercoaster of treatment.
“Someone can come here and have a massage or a beauty treatment and they can just float away for an hour or two and escape from the intense focus on medical treatment and the losses or grief that may be associated with that. It provides some balance for them.”
Ms Melville says all of the therapies dove house offers are designed to support conventional medical treatment.
“A lot of cancer treatment focuses on the body and the sickness, but here we like to redress that balance and focus on wellness and the whole body to enable people to focus on ‘living in the moment’.”
Tracy, a breast cancer survivor, who made use of many of the complementary therapies Dove House offers, says “Being supported by dove house has meant that I have been able to continue to be a wife, mother, business owner and valuable community member, despite a cancer diagnosis.”
Auckland’s dove house also has a team of counsellors and Ms Melville believes talking with a counsellor can be an important part of the treatment journey.
“A counsellor, as someone outside the circle of family and friends, offers a safe and confidential space where fears, anxieties and concerns can be expressed freely and unburdened.”
The facility also offers a range of support groups for those with life threatening illnesses and for those who care for them.
You can find out more about dove house services here.
If you’d like to find out more about complementary therapies and what’s most beneficial, BCAC recommends you read Professor Shaun Holt’s book "Complementary Therapies for Cancer: What works, what doesn’t … and how to tell the difference.” You can order a copy online here.
Remember, before you undertake any complementary therapy, you should discuss your plans with your doctor.
