Meaning-Centered Therapy, Psychiatry Referrals, and Humanistic Cancer Care - CancerNetwork

Erik Bengtsen, MD, discussed meaning-centered therapy at the bedside, framing psychiatry referrals, and a more humanistic approach to care. Erik Bengtsen, MD, an assistant attending psychiatrist and assistant director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Training Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discussed bedside meaning-centered therapy, how to frame a psychiatry referral, and what psycho-oncology has taught him to unlearn, in CancerNetwork’s® Ask Me Anything series. Bengtsen described meaning-centered psychotherapy, developed at Memorial Sloan Kettering by William Breitbart, MD, to address existential distress by helping patients identify sources of meaning, such as family, faith, community, the arts, or their legacy. At the bedside, he said, the manualized course is abbreviated and meets patients where they are. He also shared how he reframes referrals for patients who worry that a psychiatry consult implies they are “crazy,” focusing instead on sleep, recovery, energy, and the stress of treatment. Finally, he reflected on moving beyond the rigid boundaries of classical psychiatry training toward a more humanistic presence with patients and families.