Managing Difficult Emotions

A patient at my work is dying of cancer, she has been very strong emotionally up until last week.  Gwen's doctor decided to quit chemotherapy because it has spread all over her body.  Gwen talked about how afraid she is of dying.  I had hugged her and we both cried, I have a lot of sympathy for her.  "Emotions have several dimensions, they are signaled by internal physiological changes manifested by non verbal reactions and defined in most cases by cognitive interpretation."  Gwen is fifty-four and has five grown children and eight grandchildren.  She expressed emotionally how it is tearing her family to pieces and is very worried about all the people she will be leaving behind.  Her battle with cancer is getting the best of her and she knows her time is limited.  Gwen has a hard time expressing her emotions to her family because she has always been the strong one, she tells her children and grand children it's okay to die and there is nothing to be afraid of, then goes to a quiet room and breaks down.  "The way a parent talks to their children about emotions has a powerful effect of the child's development."  The coaching approach gives children skills for communicating about feelings later on in their life that leads to much more satisfying relationships.

References:

Looking Out Looking In 12th edition 

Chapter four