Zeinab Hamzeh Gardeshi - Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Zohreh Shahhosseini - Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Zahra Barimani Aboksari - Student Research Committee, Nasibe Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Introduction: Psychological well-being is an important concern for clinicians who care for patients with cancer. The current study was designed to review of effectiveness of psychotherapy interventions in breast cancer survivors.Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted. Electronic databases, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed, including Medline, as well as Persian databases like scientific information database and Iran Medex were searched to retrieve articles published from 2012 to 2017 by using the keywords Effectiveness, Psychotherapy and Breast Cancer, a total of 50 studies that was related to the topic were extracted. After title and abstract screening, 32 articles and then in full text screening, 8 articles were excluded. Finally, 10 articles were used for writing this review.Results: Results of 8 studies showed that psychotherapy interventions in average 8 sessions and 90-minutes improved quality of life, spiritual well-being, symptom burden, symptom-related distress, desire for hastened death, meaning, optimism/ pessimism, adjustment to cancer, death anxiety, attachment security and fatigue. However the effectiveness of psychotherapy on anxiety, depression and hopelessness was contradictory.Conclusion: According to beneficial effects of psychotherapy in dimensions that examined, it is recommended that this treatment be considered for improving mental health in breast cancer survivors.

Effectiveness, Psychotherapy, Breast Cancer