Therapy During and After Cancer Treatment

Cancer can change your relationship with your body, your sense of safety, your identity, your relationships, and the future you imagined.

Even when treatment ends - or everyone around you expects life to feel normal again - you may still feel anxious, disconnected, overwhelmed, or unsure where you belong.

I offer therapy for people navigating cancer diagnosis and treatment, life after treatment, medical trauma, fear of recurrence, and the process of rebuilding trust in themselves and their bodies.

This is psychotherapy provided by Corinne Nechalova, MA, LPCC.

Therapy for the parts of cancer other people may not see

You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from support. Therapy can provide space for the emotional, relational, and identity changes that may accompany cancer and its treatment.

A new diagnosis or the uncertainty of active treatment

• Medical anxiety, scanxiety, and fear of recurrence

• Medical trauma or distress connected to procedures and treatment

• Feeling disconnected from or betrayed by your body

• Changes in identity, confidence, sexuality, or relationships

• Grief about what cancer or treatment changed

• Pressure to feel grateful, positive, or “back to normal”

• Difficulty adjusting after active treatment ends

• Rebuilding trust in yourself and your body

What we may work on in cancer survivorship therapy

Anxiety, regulation, and body connection

Cancer can teach your nervous system to remain alert. Scans, follow-up appointments, medical settings, changes in your body, or an unfamiliar sensation may bring back fear even when you know there is no immediate emergency.

In therapy, I help clients understand these reactions without treating them as weakness or irrationality. We may explore what activates your nervous system, how anxiety appears in your thoughts and body, and what helps you feel more present when fear takes over.

Our work may include practical regulation skills, support with scanxiety and medical appointments, and gentle ways to reconnect with a body that may feel unfamiliar, unsafe, or difficult to trust. The goal is not to ignore symptoms or force yourself to feel calm. It is to help you respond with greater clarity, choice, and care.

Identity and life after cancer

Cancer can disrupt the story you had about who you were and where your life was going. Roles, priorities, confidence, work, relationships, and plans for the future may no longer feel the same.

Other people may expect you to return to normal while you are still trying to understand what normal means now. You may miss the person you were before cancer and also recognize that parts of your former life no longer fit.

In psychotherapy, we may explore what changed, what still feels true, and what you want to carry forward. This is not about forcing an inspiring transformation or restoring an earlier version of you. It is about getting acquainted with the person you are now and building a life that feels more honest, connected, and sustainable.

Grief and emotional processing

The emotional experience of cancer is rarely simple. You may feel grief, anger, fear, relief, gratitude, numbness, or all of them at different times. You may be thankful to be alive and deeply unhappy about what cancer or treatment required of you.

During treatment, there may have been little room to process these emotions. You had appointments to attend, decisions to make, and practical realities to manage. Sometimes the feelings become more noticeable only after the immediate crisis has passed.

Therapy offers a place where your experience does not have to be made positive, reassuring, or easy for someone else to hear. In our work, we may process what happened, grieve what changed or was lost, and make room for emotions that do not fit a simple recovery story.

Relationships and moving forward

Cancer can change the roles and expectations within partnerships, families, friendships, and work. You may need more support than you are used to receiving, or more space than other people understand. Relationships that once felt easy may become complicated, while unexpected people may become important sources of care.

In therapy, we may explore communication, boundaries, intimacy, isolation, and the pressure to protect other people from what you are feeling. I help clients identify what kind of support they need, communicate more directly, and understand which roles or responsibilities still fit.

Moving forward does not require leaving the experience behind. It means deciding how you want to live and relate now, with greater room for your needs, limits, values, and changing priorities.

Therapist. Survivor. I understand it from the inside.

I am Corinne Nechalova, MA, LPCC, a therapist with more than 15 years of experience helping people navigate trauma, anxiety, grief, and major life transitions.

I am also a breast cancer survivor.

My experience did not replace my clinical training, but it deepened my understanding of what it means to lose trust in your body, question your identity, and discover that surviving treatment is not the same as feeling whole again.

My approach brings together evidence-based therapy, nervous-system awareness, embodiment, and practical strategies that can support change in everyday life.

Rates, insurance, and locations

Session rate and insurance

$200 per 55-minute session.

In-network with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and HealthPartners. Some reduced-fee appointments are available when appropriate.

For Minnesota clients using out-of-network benefits, superbills may be available. Arizona services are private pay only.

Where therapy is available

Virtual therapy is available for clients located in Minnesota and Arizona.

Limited in-person appointments may be available in Saint Paul for Minnesota clients.

Schedule a Free Consultation