Kenneth Phelps has seen the same phenomenon in the   families of diabetes patients – only he uses a different term for   the presence of chronic disease. “It’sas if a stranger has come   into their homes, and they need to adjust their lifestyle to it,” he   said.
  As doctoral students in an innovative program at East   Carolina University, Tyndall, Phelps and their peers study how   patients and families experience medical illness, wellness,   trauma, health and death and look at ways to bridge the gap   between medical and mental health services.
  The ECU program is called medical family therapy, or MedFT,   part of the Department of Child Development and Family   Relations in the College of Human Ecology. It began in August   2005 and graduated its first three doctoral students in May   2008.
  This January, the ECU program became the first doctoral program in medical family therapy in the country to be accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
Dr. Angela Lamson, director of the program, said the relatively new field of
medical family therapy has strong roots in the field of family therapy. “The concept is that illness, loss and trauma all happen in the context of a larger system,” she said. “When one individual
experiences a trauma, loss or diagnosis, it doesn’t just influence them. It influences the entire family, coworkers, even the medical system.”
To address mental and emotional health concerns that may arise from medical conditions, these therapists advocate the integration of medical and mental health care. “We provide what is called biopsycho-social-spiritual care,” Lamson said. “We don’t just look at your physical health, but at how a medical diagnosis may influence your mental health, your emotional health, your social relationships and your spirituality.” read more click here...