Purpose

To describe the development process of an existential support program and to explore participants' evaluation of supportive/unsupportive processes of change.

Method

A five-day existential support program called “Energy for life” was designed including three main elements: 1. existential group counseling, 2. art therapy and 3. interaction with nature and aesthetic surroundings. The program was implemented at two different study sites. Focus group interviews were conducted to evaluate the program.

Results

40 subjects were recruited (20 for each one of the two study sites) and 36 completed the study (31 women, five men) in the age range from 31 to 76 years and living with cancer across all stages and types.

The program resulted in supportive processes of “existential sharing”. The existential group counseling included a sharing process which led to an increased awareness and acceptance of one's existential situation and a preparation for the next steps in one's life. Art therapy offered a respite from the illness or the opportunity to express and share difficult thoughts and feelings connected to the illness experience. The interaction with nature/surroundings induced feelings of calmness and peace, increasing self-worth and spiritual belonging. Unsupportive processes of change related to the organization of the existential counseling groups, feelings of discomfort with creative engagement and feelings of distress provoked by a hospital environment.

Conclusion

Through “Energy for life” existential concerns and distress were shared, contained and transformed. Knowledge has been gained about how an existential support program can be designed that explicitly focuses on alleviating patients' existential distress.

中文翻译：

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针对癌症患者的生存支持计划：发展和定性评估。

目的

描述生存支持计划的开发过程，并探讨参与者对变革的支持/不支持过程的评估。

方法

设计了一个名为“生命能量”的为期五天的生存支持计划，其中包括三个主要要素：1.存在团体咨询，2.艺术疗法以及3.与自然和审美环境的互动。该计划在两个不同的研究地点实施。进行了焦点小组访谈以评估该计划。

结果

招募了40名受试者（两个研究地点中的每一个受试者20名），完成研究的36名受试者（31名女性，五名男性）年龄在31至76岁之间，并且患有所有阶段和类型的癌症。

该计划导致了“现有共享”的支持过程。存在团体咨询包括一个共享过程，该过程导致人们对生存状况的认识和接受度提高，并为生活中的下一个步骤做准备。艺术疗法为疾病提供了喘息的机会，也使人们有机会表达和分享与疾病经历有关的困难思想和感觉。与自然/周围环境的互动引发了平静与和平的感觉，增加了自我价值和精神归属感。变化的支持过程与存在的咨询小组的组织，创造性参与的不适感以及医院环境引起的困扰感有关。

结论

通过“生命的能量”，存在的忧虑和困扰得以共享，遏制和转化。已经获得有关如何设计明确支持着眼于减轻患者生存困扰的生存支持程序的知识。