Recording: Optimizing Support Systems for Cancer Patients Through Applying an Evidence-based CBT Stress Management and Relaxation Intervention

Recorded February 4, 2026 Developed by Michael Antoni, PhD; Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Miami; Lead, Biobehavioral Oncology and Cancer Epidemiology Program, and Principal Investigator in the Antoni Lab at the Sylvester Cancer Center, Miami, Florida. In a paper published in the Annual Review of Psychology, Antoni and his team shared decades of data from NCI-funded studies showing how stress reduction approaches, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and relaxation training, can improve outcomes for cancer patients. Much of the stress-management research conducted at Sylvester has focused on breast and prostate cancer patients, and the long-term results have been encouraging. Featuring: Celestina Martopullo has been the psycho-oncology clinical lead practitioner for the Gastrointestinal Tumour Group in the Calgary zone, Department of Psychosocial Oncology, Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Calgary, AB for over 18 years. She has established a record of success adapting and delivering CBT psychoeducational formats to patients, trainees, graduate clinical students, medical staff, and other stakeholders. Celestina’s psychosocial-oncology service is distinguished as clinically oriented, patient-centred, progressive (addresses systemic barriers through the person-in-environment’s lens), and scholarly, whereby empirical evidence is valued in the service of enhancing clinical interventions, patients’ experiences, and outcomes.