Isabel White, clinical research fellow at The Royal Marsden developed the psychosexual therapy service to address the sexual rehabilitation and support needs of individuals and couples experiencing the sexual consequences of cancer and its treatment. The service supports men and women experiencing both organic and psychogenic sexual and relationship difficulties.Each person’s unique adjustment and rehabilitation needs are assessed to enable Isabel to work with them, and their partner, through a series of sessions to develop coping strategies, introduce behavioural and/or biomedical strategies to overcome sexual difficulties, or to move towards adjustment to a permanent change in sexual expression.
The consequences of treatment after cancer are currently experienced by an estimated 400,000 survivors in the UK. These effects are often hard to identify and are insufficiently understood by patients, the public and healthcare professionals.
According to a Macmillan survey in 2006, 26% of people with cancer said they experienced difficulties in their relationship with their partner as a result of their cancer diagnosis. It also found that 43% of people living with cancer said that their sex life had suffered.
In the first two years (2010-2012) the service saw 82 new patients, mostly from the breast and gynaecological units, followed by urology and lower GI services. In 2013/14, there were 44 new patients – breast, gynaecology, urology and haemato-oncology.
In the current year – 2014-March 2015 – the service has seen 56 new referrals, mostly from the urology unit, followed by gynaecology, breast and lower GI units. It has delivered 187 hours of psychosexual therapy to individuals and couples, compared to 60 hours in the first year of the service.
You can read more about the service here http://bit.ly/1Rj4TMr