Unconventional Therapies for Children with Cancer
Children who are undergoing treatment for cancer suffer tremendously in many different ways. They feel a lot of physical pain, as well as the emotional pain of being different from their peers because they are dealing with a challenge that, in their youthful innocence, their friends could never understand. Many children with cancer also struggle with ideas of death because they are aware that this terrible illness may be the end of them.
Children who have been diagnosed with the dreaded disease could benefit from therapy to help them vent their frustrations, process their emotions, and discover what joy they could have, even in their dismal situation. Although talk therapy could be immensely useful, many children don’t know how to open up and express what they’re feeling.
Here are some different therapies that children with cancer can benefit from:
- Music therapy– A creative outlet, music can soothe and help children express themselves without using words. It can help reduce anxiety in children who have experienced trauma, help them regulate their emotions, and recognize and deal with triggers and difficult emotions. According to Seattle Music Therapy, music is an art of structure and familiarity, which provides a framework for personal expression. This safe, predictable environment allows children to relax and revisit difficult experiences.
- Art therapy– Art can help children express their subconscious minds. With the guidance of a professional, children can identify repressed experiences, gain self-awareness, and reduce stress through different art mediums. Additionally, children can find healing once they have expressed and worked through difficult emotions. Children will often surprise the adults in the room- and themselves- when they draw images that reflect a turbulent storm of emotions that were never verbally expressed.
- Play therapy– Informal and friendly, play therapy is a noninvasive way to get children to open up about difficult experiences. Play is children’s language, which is especially helpful for children with limited speech capabilities or an inability to express traumatic events. It can help children foster awareness of triggers, manage anger, frustration, stress, and other uncomfortable feelings, and learn relationship and social skills.
- Animal therapy– Horses, dogs, cats, bunny rabbits, birds, and other animals can be used in animal therapy to help children who have experienced a trauma self-regulate and process their challenging emotions. Animals can provide comfort, predictability, and a nonjudgmental safe place for children going through a trauma to open up. Scientifically, playing with furry friends has proven to lower stree hormones and blood pressure.
At Zichron Menachem, we offer many forms of therapies to help children with cancer and their siblings process their emotions and find joy. In the garden of our House of Dreams center, where children with cancer and their siblings congregate for fun and therapies every day, we have birds, bunny rabbits, and a fishing pond.
The children play with the pets, feed them, and clean their cages… and we’ve seen unbelievable results. To read more about how animal therapy has transformed the lives of the many children who pass through our center every day, click the button below.
Zichron Menachem is an organization in Israel that supports children with cancer under the age of 21 and their families. Our goal is to help every child with cancer and their closest family members get through the difficult illness with support, fun experiences, and the necessary therapeutic intervention. We strongly believe that sick children (and their families) need to be in an emotionally healthy place to have a reason to live and fight their debilitating illnesses.
