This study suggests that clinicians can improve the care of African-American breast cancer patients and their adolescent children by being more family-centered. Adolescents need more developmentally appropriate preparation for the family changes likely to occur when a parent is diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Developing a support group comprised of other youth coping with parental breast cancer from diagnosis throughout treatment was described as a preferred intervention to promote a shared understanding in order to overcome feelings of isolation, worry, and fear.

This study premises that self-of-the-therapist work is pivotal in the development of effective therapists. However, therapy models vary in their goals for this work and the means of accomplishing them. This study presents the perspective of the person-of-the-therapist Training (POTT) model that prioritizes the ability to consciously and purposefully use the self-as-is at the moment of contact with the client over the traditional goal of therapists working to resolve their issues. A key underlying assumption of the model proposes that therapists' core issues (referred to as "signature themes") are potent resources that can be tapped into to connect, assess and intervene effectively with clients. The study presents the model and illustrates the use of signature themes in clinical work.

Providing culturally adapted family intervention programs to African American families who are coping with parental cancer may result in improved family communication. This pilot study serves as the first step in the development of culturally adapted family intervention programs to help African American families cope with parental cancer.

This qualitative focus group study describes posttraumatic growth experiences of African American adolescents currently coping with parental breast cancer. Twelve adolescents participated in three focus groups assessing their experiences with parental cancer. Spontaneous accounts of posttraumatic growth were reported by all participants. A content analysis revealed reports in four of the five domains of posttraumatic growth identified by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) which included: greater appreciation for life, enhanced interpersonal relationships, increased sense of personal strengths, and changed priorities. An additional domain, change in health behaviors and attitudes, also emerged. These findings add important knowledge to the developing field of research in posttraumatic growth in populations where available research is scarce, especially among adolescents and racial minorities.

African American parents who are navigating breast cancer while parenting their school-age children are an understudied population. We used family systems and sociocultural theories to conduct three focus groups with a total sample of 9 African American parents to understand how they cared for their school-age children (ages 11 to 18) while coping with the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Our content analysis of these focus groups yielded themes that described a variety of ways they protected their children from the emotional consequences of breast cancer. Seven primary themes emerged: (a) increased desire to protect their children, (b) parental concerns for children's coping, (c) openness and transparency with children, (d) reliance on children for support, (e) calibration of their own responses, (f) use of the illness experience as a teachable moment for children, and (g) reliance on others for parenting support. Clinicians and researchers can improve their care by developing culturally sensitive family intervention programs that promote family resilience.