By Corie Talano

I can feel adrenaline in my body and a tightness in my throat. I step out of a classroom I was observing and into the school hallway, straining to hear the woman on the other end of the line. A radiologist from the diagnostic imaging center tells me my breast biopsies show ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)—and because it appears in multiple places, I’ll likely need a mastectomy.

I’m stunned. I never expected to need biopsies after a routine mammogram at my age, and I assumed they were being extra cautious—a CYA move.

A week later at the breast surgeon’s office, I still don’t feel reassured. I’m uncertain about this provider on top of a situation that already generates so much anxiety. So when I get back to my car, I start exerting what control I can: I call MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (even though I live in Florida) and make an appointment. If I’m doing this, I’m going to the big guns.

Why I Started Therapy After Receiving a New Health Diagnosis

What followed was a two-year journey: lumpectomies, more biopsies a year later, a bilateral mastectomy with autologous reconstruction, and a lot of air travel to and from Houston while finishing a graduate degree. Friends and family showed up beautifully—hosting me, sitting with me after surgeries, sending meals, flowers, and gift cards, sharing wisdom from their own cancer journeys.

And even with all of that support, I started therapy. Here’s why.

So. Many. Decisions.

A new diagnosis comes with decision after decision: Which providers? Which treatment (if there are options)? Who will care for the kids—and for me—after surgery? How do I manage treatment while working or in school? Who will take out the trash when I can’t lift it? Do I need a specific recliner to sleep when I can’t use my arms to get out of bed?

Can you feel the decision fatigue already?

These choices are hardest when emotions are running high. Well-meaning friends may offer advice without having been there. Often there aren’t “right” answers—just the ones that best uphold your values.

A therapist can help you clarify your values, problem-solve, and serve as a steady sounding board.

Holy Anxiety, Batman!

Not knowing if you’re going to be okay is scary. Early on, your brain often camps out in fight/flight/freeze. Heart rate climbs, attention narrows, and thinking gets jumpy—making decisions harder and pulling you out of the present, which can sap joy from good moments and stall everyday tasks.

Therapy can help you turn down the alarm system and reclaim attention for what matters by working on areas such as:

• Nervous system regulation
  
• Cognitive tools and uncertainty tolerance
   
• Behavioral support

The goal isn’t to be fearless. It’s to be less hijacked—able to feel the fear, stay connected to your values, and choose your next step with steadier hands.

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

A diagnosis often brings a grieving process. You might grieve how your body has changed, the activities you can’t do (for now or long-term), the appointments that steal time, the game or performance you missed, or simply the before-times when you assumed you were healthy and didn’t think about it so much.

Grief also shows up as body image and identity shifts. Scars, hair loss, weight changes, medical devices, surgical menopause, or fatigue can make the mirror feel like a stranger and daily choices—clothes, photos, intimacy—feel loaded. Roles may shift too: from “athlete/parent/colleague who handles everything” to “patient” or “person pacing energy,” which can challenge pride and belonging.

Therapy helps you name the losses, accept reality as it is today, and make space for both grief and life. With a therapist, you can rebuild a compassionate relationship with your body (e.g., gentle exposure to mirrors, language that’s kinder than your inner critic, values-based wardrobe and routine tweaks), and rework identity so it includes what changed without erasing who you are. That might look like reclaiming activities with modifications, defining what attractiveness and strength mean to you now, and practicing communication about touch and intimacy at a pace that feels safe.

Talking About It Is Hard—How Therapy Supports Communication

Illness doesn’t only live in your body; it lives in conversations—with kids, partners, friends, employers, and your medical team. Therapy provides language and structure so those talks feel safer and more effective. Common focus areas include:

• Setting information boundaries: deciding what to share, with whom, and when.
  
• Talking with kids: using simple, concrete explanations and repeating core messages.
  
• Asking for help: delegating tasks, creating clear lanes for support, and reducing decision fatigue.
  
• Navigating work: defining availability, discussing leave, and proposing coverage plans.
  
• Making medical visits effective: organizing top questions, taking notes, and using teach-back to confirm the plan.
  
• Handling unhelpful comments: responding neutrally to unsolicited advice and grim anecdotes.
  
• Protecting energy: choosing which conversations to have now, later, or not at all.

A therapist can help you tailor the wording to your voice, rehearse the tough parts, and troubleshoot real-life bumps—so communication reduces stress instead of adding to it.

What If Your Diagnosis Isn’t Cancer?

Therapy supports many health conditions. Beyond improving mental health and quality of life for people with cancer, research suggests psychosocial interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can aid immune function and reduce depression, anxiety, and stress across diagnoses:

• Cancer & quality of life: CAM4 study
  
• Psychosocial interventions & immune markers: JAMA Psychiatry review
  
• Chronic heart disease: CBT reducing depression/anxiety/stress: PMC review
  

There’s No Way Out but Through—A Therapist Can Help You Through

A diagnosis rearranges more than a treatment plan; it rearranges your days, roles, and hopes. Grief may come in waves. Anxiety may spike without warning. Decisions may feel endless. Therapy doesn’t make the ocean stop—but it teaches you how to read the tide, choose when to rest, and move in the direction of your values.

In session, you’ll practice skills that steady your body and mind, find language for what hurts, and rebuild meaning in small, practical ways (sleep, appointments, hard conversations) and big ones (boundaries, priorities, legacy projects). Caregivers can be part of this support too—they’re swimming in the same sea.

If health has changed your plans, let’s navigate it together. Call The Psychology Group at (954) 488-2933 and ask to schedule with Corie. I can offer care that’s compassionate, practical, and tailored to you. I’m ready when you are.

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