Supporting a Partner With Breast Cancer

Courtney Bitz is a licensed clinical social worker who heads the Couples Coping with Cancer Together program for City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer center in Duarte, Calif. When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, research has shown that having a supportive partner is one of the most important factors in helping her cope. But partners may struggle with knowing what to say or how best to support a loved one. The only program of its kind, Couples Coping with Cancer Together helps women and their partners identify problems that are most important to them as part of their overall medical care. Listen to the podcast to hear Courtney discuss: how the Couples Coping with Cancer Together program works specific examples of how a woman can ask for and get the support she needs the different ways women and men cope with stress and how each can understand the other better common requests that women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer ask of their partners To help our visitors, Courtney provided the Partners’ Guide to Managing the Challenges of Breast Cancer (download the PDF). It offers tips on what partners can do to help a woman who’s been diagnosed, as well as tips for what diagnosed women can do to get the best support from their partners and other loved ones.