DIGEST-V7i3

8 TPC Digest A dolescents and young adults with cancer have specific psychosocial needs that are not the same as those of children or adults with cancer, yet we know comparatively little about their psychosocial needs. We focused on individuals aged 18–39 because they have been shown to be developmentally different from adolescents and because they often have been lumped in with adolescents in research on their mental health needs. For young adults with cancer, having a counselor that is knowledgeable about their unique psychosocial needs is especially important. This descriptive study was designed to examine the perceived counseling needs of young adults with cancer with regard to preferences for counseling topics and counseling modalities. Three hundred and twenty young adults with cancer currently between the ages of 18 and 39, initially diagnosed with cancer at age 18 or older, and living in the United States completed an online counseling needs assessment survey. The survey listed 38 counseling topics relevant to young adults with cancer and asked participants to rate how helpful each topic would be to discuss in individual, group, and family counseling. Additionally, participants ranked their preferences for the counseling modalities of individual, group, and family counseling. Participants found more than twice as many topics helpful for discussion in individual and group counseling compared to family counseling. Five topics were rated as significantly more helpful to discuss in individual counseling than in group or family counseling: anxiety, finances, sad feelings, sexual and intimacy concerns, and stress management. Two topics were rated as significantly more helpful to discuss in group counseling than in the other two counseling modalities: finding social support and getting information about your medical situation. No topics were rated as significantly more helpful to discuss in family counseling than in the other two counseling modalities; however, three family-relevant topics were rated as being more helpful to discuss in individual counseling than in family counseling: concerns with parent(s), concerns with partner, and insurance issues. Finally, participants ranked attending individual counseling as their first preference for counseling modality, followed by group counseling ranked as their second preference, and finally, family counseling ranked as their last preference. Because participants in this study selected individual counseling as their first choice for counseling modality, counselors need to familiarize themselves with what young adults with cancer may want to discuss in individual counseling, as well as how a young adult may experience a cancer diagnosis during young adulthood. Additionally, with less than half of participants being successful in locating a local young adults with cancer support group, more local support groups as well as professionally led counseling groups for young adults diagnosed with cancer during young adulthood are needed to provide a uniquely powerful experience in which they are heard and understood by others like them. Finally, rather than make general recommendations for clients who are young adults with cancer to participate in family counseling, counselors may want to make such recommendations on an individualized basis after thoroughly exploring clients’ psychosocial needs and preferences. Counselors and other mental health professionals can use these findings as starting points for therapeutic conversations in various counseling modalities, creating treatment plans, starting in-person groups, and developing evidence-based psychosocial programming and services for young adults with cancer in a variety of medical and supportive care settings. Jessica Z. Taylor is an assistant professor at Central Methodist University. Susan Kashubeck-West is a professor and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The authors would like to thank Hope for Young Adults with Cancer and the College of Education at the University of Missouri–St. Louis for their contributions of incentives for randomly selected study participants. Correspondence can be addressed to Jessica Taylor, Central Methodist University, 2458 Old Dorsett Road, Suite 200, Maryland Heights, MO 63043, jztaylor@centralmethodist.edu. Jessica Z. Taylor, Susan Kashubeck-West Counseling Preferences of Young Adults with Cancer