Mindfulness: A Proposed Couple-Based Intervention for the Altered Self-Identity of Breast Cancer Survivors

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is increasingly employed in psychosocial care for patients diagnosed with cancer. As the benefits of MBSR mount, one area left unexplored is the potential impact it may hold for women’s self-identities, after they have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Given the symbolic nature of the breast, a woman’s sense of self is often disrupted as she is faced with changes to her physical body, impacting how she conceives of herself personally, socially, relationally, and sexually. Couple’s interventions are proving to have significant effects in regard to sexual outcomes, when issues of self-identity, including body image and sexuality are addressed. Mindfulness practice has been identified as beneficial for both individuals and couples in cancer care and may offer a useful approach for couple-based interventions to address self-identity and body image. The following paper reviews the current research on the implications of breast cancer for a woman’s sense of self, or self-identity, as well as highlights ways in which intimate relationships are impacted. Mindfulness is explored as a possible psychosocial intervention to help couples cope with women’s altered self-identities.