Shulamith Kreitler & Myriam Weyl Ben-Arush 
Pediatric Psycho-oncology 
Psychosocial Aspects and Clinical Interventions

Like the ground-breaking first edition, Pediatric
Psycho-oncology, Second edition puts the child at the centre of
medical and psychological care. It broadens the focus beyond
treatment and cure to consider the quality of life of the child and
their family. Written by an international group of pediatric
oncologists and psychologists/psycho-oncologists brought together
by an expert editorial team, it focuses on the real-life practical
aspects of children undergoing treatment for cancer.

This edition has been restructured and opens with a major
section on Active treatment, which includes chapters addressing
quality of life, pain, psychosocial aspects of treatment and
interventions, art therapy and different fantasy-based techniques,
palliative care, communication and education, as well as a new
chapter on psychopharmacology. Shorter sections then discuss
survivorship and care of the dying child, including a new chapter
on bereavement. The final section comprises new chapters on
ethical considerations and on addressing the emotional needs of
children whose parents have cancer, as well as a case study on
international collaboration. An appendix provides a
comprehensive overview of tools for evaluation and assessment in
pediatric psychooncology.

This book is a highly practical resource that will be invaluable
for all health care professionals looking after children and
adolescents with cancer.

Table of Content

List of Contributors ix

Foreword xiii
Jimmie Holland

Introduction: Embedding Psychosocial Care in Medicine: Pediatric Psycho-oncology as a Model
Gary M. Kupfer xv

Preface xvii

Part A Active Treatment 1

Chapter 1 Cancer in Children: an Overview 3
Shai Izraeli, Gideon Rechavi

Chapter 2 Comprehensive and Family- Centered Psychosocial Care in Pediatric Oncology: Integration of Clinical Practice and Research 7
Lori Wiener, Maryland Pao

Chapter 3 Quality of Life in Children with Cancer 18
Shulamith Kreitler, Michal M. Kreitler

Chapter 4 Pain in Pediatric Oncology 32
Richard D. W. Hain

Chapter 5 Psychiatric Impact of Childhood Cancer 43
Margaret L. Stuber

Chapter 6 Psychosocial Effects of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Children 52
Ronit Elhasid, Michal M. Kreitler, Shulamith Kreitler, Myriam Weyl Ben-Arush

Chapter 7 Psychosocial Aspects of Radiotherapy in Pediatric Cancer Patients 62
Shulamith Kreitler, Elena Krivoy, Amos Toren

Chapter 8 Communicating with Children: their Understanding, Information Needs, and Processes 71
M. Louise Webster, Jane E. Skeen

Chapter 9 Psychosocial Interventions: a Cognitive Behavioral Approach 92
Bob F. Last, Martha A. Grootenhuis

Chapter 10 Education in Pediatric Oncology: Learning and Reintegration into School 104
Ciporah S. Tadmor, Rivka Rosenkranz, Myriam Weyl Ben-Arush

Chapter 11 Psychopharmacology in Pediatric Oncology 118
Elizabeth G. Pinsky, Annah N. Abrams

Chapter 12 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Children with Cancer 135
Subhadra Evans, Laura Cousins, Lonnie Zeltzer

Chapter 13 Fantasy, Art Therapies, and Other Expressive and Creative Psychosocial Interventions 143
Shulamith Kreitler, Daniel Oppenheim, Elsa Segev-Shoham

Chapter 14 Palliative Care for Children with Advanced Cancer 160
Stefan J. Friedrichsdorf, Lonnie Zeltzer

Part B Survivorship 175

Chapter 15 Neuropsychological Sequelae of Childhood Cancer 177
Matthew C. Hocking, Melissa A. Alderfer

Chapter 16 Survivorship in Childhood Cancer 187
Elena Krivoy, Meriel E.M. Jenney, Amita Mahajan, Monique Peretz Nahum

Part C Death and Bereavement 197

Chapter 17 Care of a Child Dying of Cancer 199
Sergey Postovsky, Myriam Weyl Ben-Arush

Chapter 18 Psychological Intervention with the Dying Child 209
Shulamith Kreitler, Elena Krivoy

Chapter 19 Providing Support for Families Experiencing the Death of a Child 223
David J. Schonfeld

Part D Additional Considerations 231

Chapter 20 Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Oncology: a Case-Based Psychosocial Overview 233
Ryan W. Blum, Andres S. Martin

Chapter 21 When a Parent has Cancer: Supporting Healthy Child Development During Challenging Times 246
Susan D. Swick, Andres S. Martin, Paula Rauch

Chapter 22 Collaborations in Psychosocial Care in Pediatric Oncology: the Middle East as a Case Example 260
Aziza T. Shad, Maria E. Mc Gee, Matthew G. Biel, Michael Silbermann

Part E Appendix 269

Appendix A Assessment Tools in Pediatric Psycho-oncology 271
Dafna Munitz-Shenkar, Michal M. Kreitler, Shulamith Kreitler

Appendix B Additional Resources 298

Index 301

About the author

Dr Shulamith Kreitler studied psychology, philosophy and
psychopathology in Israel, Switzerland and the USA. She studied for
her Ph D at the University of Bern, Switzerland and is a
certified clinical and health psychologist. She has been Professor
of Psychology at the Universities of Harvard, Princeton and
Yale in the USA, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Vienna, Austria. Since
1986 she has been Professor of Psychology at Tel-Aviv University
and currently also teaches at the University of Haifa. She is Head
of the Psychooncology Research Center at Sheba Medical Center, Tel
Hashomer, Israel. She has published about 200 papers and 10 books
on motivation, cognition, psychopathology and health psychology,
and is known especially for her work in health psychology,
particularly psychooncology, the theory of meaning, and the
cognitive orientation theory for the prediction and change of
behavior.

Dr Myriam Ben-Arush is Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the
Technion Faculty of Medicine, Director of the Pediatric Hematology
Oncology Department, Rambam Health Care Campus, and Deputy Director
of the Meyer Children’s Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa,
Israel. She is past Chair of the Israel Society of Pediatric
Hematology Oncology, and received a bursary from the Israel Society
of Oncology for the creation of the Pediatric Oncology Unit in
Northern Israel. The World Medical Association recognised her
as ‘Caring Physician of the World’, and she is
‘Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur’. Dr
Ben-Aurush is Associate Editor of the Journal of Pediatric
Hematology Oncology, a member of the National Council of
Oncology and Pediatric Health and of the Israel Cancer
Association. She sits on the Research Committee of the
Israeli Ministry of Health and the advisory committee for treatment
outside Israel. She is also a Principal investigator in
Israel of the European Soft Tissue Sarcoma Protocol.

Dr. Andres Martin is the Riva Ariella Ritvo Professor of
Pediatric Oncology Psychosocial Services at the Child Study Center,
Yale School of Medicine. He is the consulting psychiatrist to the
Section of Pediatric Oncology of the Children’s Hospital and
the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, where he also
co-leads the Parenting At a Challenging Time (PACT) program. Dr.
Martin is editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and co-editor of
‘Pediatric Psychopharmacology: Principles and Practice,
2nd edition’ and ‘Lewis’s Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Textbook, 4th
edition’.