Pediatric Oncology - Psychosocial Services
The Cancer Center's psychosocial staff is an expert team of psychologists, social workers, child-life specialists and teachers that support cancer patients, families and medical staff at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Our services include:
- Child Life Services (Child Life, Art Therapy, Music Therapy, and Hospital School)
- Psychology
- Social Work
How we support pediatric oncology patients and families
- Consulting with medical staff
- Helping children, siblings or families adjust to illness
- Providing referrals to community resources
- Conducting individual and family psychotherapy
- Offering a variety of support groups and education programs for parents and siblings
- Engaging patients with therapeutic play, art therapy, and music therapy
- Connecting families to various financial resources
- Coordinating language interpretation services
- Providing psychoeducational evaluations
- Making referrals for detailed neuropsychological evaluations
- Easing the transition from hospital to school with a school reintegration program
- Attending patient rounds
- Participating in family meetings and patient management conferences
- Offering supportive services for end-of-life issues
- Conducting research on psychosocial issues related to childhood cancer
Our research
Psychosocial team members actively engage in clinical research with medical and nursing teams to better understand child and family needs during childhood cancer and beyond. The team develops interventions to reduce anxiety and promote adaptive family functioning. Recent projects include:
- A clinical trial of an intervention to reduce distress and promote adaptive coping in parents of newly diagnosed patients
- Development of a psychosocial assessment tool to guide the understanding of psychosocial need in newly diagnosed families
- A clinical trial of an intervention to improve attention and executive functioning in children with cognitive late effects
Locations
Our pediatric oncology psychosocial teams are available at the Main Campus in Philadelphia and at our Pediatric & Adolescent Specialty Care facilities in King of Prussia, Pa. and Voorhees, N.J.
For more information about our services or how to access them, please email
Dr. Lamia Barakat, PhD, director of Psychosocial Services, or call 877-403-2149.
Contact Us
For more information about our services or how to access them.
- 877-403-2149
- Contact Us Online