First Psychology Congress on ‘Children with Cancer’ in MAHAK

The very first national psychology congress on ‘Children with Cancer’ in Iran was held in MAHAK on December 19 – 20, 2012.

MAHAK’s Psychology subdivision of Support Services department in line with its mission to help disseminate knowledge and experience in specialized field related to pediatric cancer conducted this congress in order to contribute to the advancement of the quality of psychological support for patient children and their families. The first day was devoted to presentation of topics of interest for the general audience while the second day was designed as a series of workshops where experts exchanged research findings and opinions on specialized subfields.

The main subject foci of this congress was diagnosing psychological needs, identifying appropriate interventional and clinical psychology methods designed for children patients and their parents, implementing play therapy mechanisms such as painting, music, storytelling, drama, game, etc. during treatment period, supporting rehabilitation and crisis management methods, and effective education for parents during treatment process and in the post mortem period.
Moreover, there were presentations which identified siblings of cancer-stricken children as a critical population omitted from many patient psychology programs. In addition, the concept of psycho-oncology as an emerging subfield of psychology related to pediatric cancer was presented as well.

MAHAK continues its march in providing appropriate forums for the most up-to-date presentations and discussions concerning all aspects of pediatric cancer.