Karen Kayser – författare

"Kayser and Scott have written an excellent manual for mental health practitioners who care for women with cancer. To provide the best treatment for women and couples living with cancer, it is imperative for the therapist to have a thorough understanding of medical treatments as well as normal responses to the experience. Readers of this well-written, thoughtful, and practical book will have both." -Hester Hill Schnipper, LICSW, BCD, OSW-C, Chief, Oncology Social Work, BIDMC, Author, After Breast Cancer: A Commonsense Guide to Life After TreatmentClose relationships can be vital to a woman’s recovery from breast or gynecological cancer and the myriad stressors that accompany diagnosis and treatment. Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancer shows readers not only how to enlist the patient’s closest support person in coping with the disease, but also to help that partner with the stressors, such as feelings of inadequacy and loss, that so often come with therole.The authors, established experts on their subject, recognize the challenges couples face, the central role of communication in coping, and the individuality of each patient and couple. In addition to proven intervention techniques and helpful assessment tools, the book features case illustrations, "What to do if…" sections, sociocultural considerations, and suggestions for when the patient’s caregiver is not her partner. Key areas of coverage include:Assessment: quality of life, impact of illness, family resources.Balancing work, family, self-care, and the demands of illness.Cognitive coping, relaxation, stress reduction.Body image, sexuality, and intimacy.Helping children cope: developmental guidelines.Transitions: goal-setting, life after cancer, facing recurrence or terminal illness.The skills and insights contained in Helping Couples Cope with Women’s Cancers will benefit a range of health and mental health practitioners, including counselors, social workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and nurses. Graduate students planning a career in health psychology or couples therapy should also find it a valuable resource.

When a marriage is still young, the prospect of falling out of love seems an unlikely possibility. However, for some spouses the loving feelings experienced early on can diminish to the point where marital disaffection--an emotional estrangement--sets in. The breakdown of the emotional bond does not usually occur abruptly, but more often evolves over months and even years of growing dissatisfaction with the relationship. What actually happens, then, between the beginning of a marriage--full of love, hope, and caring--and the point where alienation and indifference set in?When Love Dies is based on two rich sources of information gathered by the author. Karen Kayser first analyzes in-depth and revealing interviews with 49 spouses who recount their feelings, thoughts, and actions as they fell out of love with their partners. Chapters trace the slow dissolution of love and its impact on a marriage, from the onset of marital disaffection to its final stages. Kayser then incorporates data from a random sample survey, comparing troubled spouses with non-disaffected spouses and exploring the relationships among marital disaffection, psychological well-being, commitment, attribution, and gender.When Love Dies examines the concept of matrimony from broad theories of marriage as a social institution to the most specific nuances of spousal interaction. Kayser shows that by studying the dynamics that produce disaffection, partners are able to focus on ways to better understand what is needed to maintain love in marriage. Identifying the phases of disaffection, including significant turning points, can alert spouses and clinicians that it is time to confront problems of alienation. Clinical recommendations for repairing marriages are offered for each phase of the disaffection process. The book also provides a scale of marital disaffection that is of practical use to clinicians and researchers.Combining meticulous research, revealing interviews, and insightful analysis, When Love Dies is a valuable text for instructors of courses on marriage and the family, and essential reading for all clinicians who work with couples.