Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Counselling and psycho-oncology support for colon cancer | CION Cancer Clinics
Psycho-oncology counselling is talking help for the fear, low mood, shame and family strain that colon cancer brings. It is for patients and for the carers beside them, and asking for it does not mean you are mentally ill. This page explains what people bring to a counsellor, how CION arranges counselling alongside treatment, who you may meet, and what cannot wait for an appointment. At CION Cancer Clinics, our team supports patients and families with diet, bowel changes and life during and after treatment.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed October 2026, next review due October 2027
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On this page
- What is psycho-oncology counselling, and is it for someone like me?
- What do people with colon cancer actually bring to a counsellor?
- How does counselling actually get arranged at CION?
- The people you may be sent to, in plain language
- What this page cannot tell you
- Common questions about counselling during colon cancer
The short answer
What is psycho-oncology counselling, and is it for someone like me?
Psycho-oncology is the part of cancer care that looks after the mind while the rest of the team looks after the tumour. Counselling means talking, in private, to someone trained to help with the fear, low mood, shame and family strain that a colon cancer diagnosis brings. It is not for people who are "weak" or "not coping". It is for anyone whose worry is taking up more room than they can spare.
Why colon cancer needs it more than most
Other cancers frighten people. Colon cancer frightens them and embarrasses them at the same time. The treatment can leave a stoma bag on the belly, a bowel that empties without warning, and a body that feels unfamiliar in bed. Those are hard to say out loud to a spouse, let alone to a son or a daughter-in-law who is doing the caring. A counsellor is someone you can say them to.
Who this page is for
It is for the patient, and for the family member who has noticed that their father has stopped talking, or that their mother cries after every scan. Carers get worn down too, and counselling is as much for the person doing the caring as for the person being cared for.
Counselling sits beside treatment, never instead of it. If you have stopped eating, cannot sleep for days or are thinking of ending your life, tell your doctor today rather than waiting for an appointment.What it helps with
What do people with colon cancer actually bring to a counsellor?
These are the things that come up most. If you recognise yourself in one of them, that is reason enough to ask.
Fear that will not switch off
Fear of the next scan, of recurrence, of what happens to the family. It is normal at diagnosis and it usually settles. When it does not, and every blood test becomes a week of dread, a counsellor can teach ways to bring it down to a size you can live with.
Often shows up as
- Waking early, mind racing
- Checking the body for symptoms all day
- Panic before every appointment
The stoma, the accidents and the shame
A bag that leaked at a wedding. A bowel accident on the bus home from chemotherapy. A spouse who has not touched you since surgery. This is where the real distress sits, and it is exactly what people hide from their doctor. The emotional side of a stoma page goes deeper; a counsellor goes further still.
Low mood that has stayed
Not just sadness, which is expected, but a flatness that does not lift: no appetite, no interest, no energy to see anyone. In colon cancer the tiredness of chemotherapy and the low mood of depression can hide inside each other, and a trained person can tell them apart.
Depression during cancer treatment is common and treatable. It is not a character flaw.The family under strain
Money worries, a marriage going quiet, a daughter-in-law doing the bag changes while her own children wait, an elderly parent refusing treatment. Counselling can be for the carer alone, or for the family together, and sometimes that is the conversation that makes the treatment possible.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologist
!
What cannot wait for an appointment
If you, or the person you care for, are thinking about ending your life, have stopped eating and drinking, or have become confused or unable to recognise people, do not wait for a counselling slot. Tell the treating doctor the same day, or go to the nearest emergency department and say the person is on cancer treatment. Confusion during chemotherapy can have a physical cause that needs treating urgently.
Getting started
How does counselling actually get arranged at CION?
You say something, or someone notices
At any visit, tell your oncologist or a nurse that you are not coping, or that your mood is low. Often it is the carer who says it first. Nobody will think less of you, and it goes in your notes so the whole team knows.
The team connects you with a counsellor
CION's supportive care team arranges the counselling, with a counsellor or psycho-oncologist who works with cancer patients. Where a psychiatrist is needed, for medicine or for a more severe illness, the team refers you through a partner hospital.
The first session is mostly listening
You talk about what is hardest. The counsellor asks about sleep, appetite, mood and the family. Together you decide whether this is a few sessions of practical help or something longer. You can bring a family member, or ask that they wait outside.
It fits around treatment, not the other way round
Sessions can be timed with chemotherapy visits so a family from a district does not make a separate trip. Phone or video sessions can be arranged for people who cannot travel, and for carers who cannot leave the house.
Who is who
The people you may be sent to, in plain language
- Counsellor
- Someone trained to help you talk through fear, grief and family strain. Does not prescribe medicine. Usually the first person you see.
- Psycho-oncologist
- A psychologist or counsellor who works only with cancer patients and their families, and understands treatment, stomas and scan anxiety from the inside.
- Psychiatrist
- A doctor who can diagnose depression or severe anxiety and prescribe medicine for it. Involved when talking alone is not enough.
- Palliative care team
- Specialists in comfort, symptom control and support at any stage of illness, not only at the end. They often work closely with counsellors.
- Stoma nurse
- A nurse, usually at a partner hospital, who teaches bag care and quietly handles much of the practical distress a counsellor then builds on.
- Peer supporter
- Another patient or carer who has been through it. Not a professional, but often the person who makes it feel survivable. See support groups in Hyderabad.
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Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether what you are feeling is ordinary worry or something that needs treatment. That line is drawn by a trained person who has asked you about sleep, appetite, mood and what you are afraid of, not by a page. If you are asking yourself the question at all, that is a good enough reason to raise it at your next visit.
It cannot promise what counselling will feel like
Some people feel lighter after one conversation. Some need many, and some find that medicine is what makes the difference. Some do not want to talk at all and do better in a peer group or with a stoma nurse. None of these is failing. The counsellor's job is to find what works for you, not to make you fit a method.
Who this does not apply to
If you are managing, with sad days and sleepless nights that pass, you do not need counselling to prove you are coping properly. The coping with a diagnosis page is enough for most people. Come back to this one if the sad days stop passing, or if the person caring for you says they are worried.
Not sure whether it is bad enough to ask? Call the CION helpline and describe it. That question has no wrong answer, and someone will tell you honestly what the next step is.Questions we are asked
Common questions about counselling during colon cancer
Does asking for counselling mean I am mentally ill?
No. Most people who see a counsellor during cancer treatment have no mental illness at all. They have an ordinary mind under an extraordinary load. Counselling is support for that load. Where a real depression is found, it is treated like any other complication of cancer, with no judgement attached.
Will my oncologist know what I say to the counsellor?
The counsellor shares what the treating team needs to know to keep you safe and to plan care, such as whether low mood is affecting your ability to eat or attend. The private details of what you talk about stay private. Ask at the first session exactly what will be shared, and with whom.
Is counselling available in Telugu?
Ask for it when the referral is made. Telugu-speaking counsellors exist in Hyderabad and the team will try to match you. If a session must be in English or Hindi, a family member can sit in to translate, though some people prefer the privacy of a counsellor who speaks their own language.
Can the carer have counselling without the patient?
Yes, and it is often the carer who needs it more. A son handling the money and the hospital, or a daughter-in-law doing the bag changes, can be referred in their own right. The looking after yourself page explains why this matters.
Will I be put on antidepressants?
Only if a psychiatrist judges that medicine would help, and only with your agreement. Many people need no medicine at all. When it is suggested, it is because talking alone is not shifting a depression, and the oncologist checks that it is safe alongside chemotherapy.
What does it cost?
It varies with who you see and whether the session is at CION, through a partner hospital or by video. Ask for the fee when the referral is made, and say if cost is a barrier. Charity helplines and peer groups do not usually charge, and are a real option when money is tight.
My father refuses to talk to anyone. What can I do?
Do not force it. Tell the treating team what you are seeing, so they can raise it gently at a visit. Often an older man will accept help from a nurse or a doctor that he would refuse from a "counsellor". And take the counselling yourself; it helps you, and it shows him it is ordinary.
Is it too late to ask once treatment is finished?
No. For many people the hardest time is after treatment ends, when the visits stop and the fear of recurrence has room to grow. Counselling during follow-up is as valid as counselling during chemotherapy, and you can ask at any follow-up visit.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's colon cancer specialists. Bring your colonoscopy, scan or biopsy report.
Our surgical and medical oncologists plan colon cancer care together: which operation, whether chemotherapy is needed, and the follow-up that comes after.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Emotions and Cancer
- National Cancer Institute — Palliative Care in Cancer
- Cancer Research UK — Living with bowel cancer
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Bowel cancer (including rectal cancer and colon cancer)
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Anxiety and low mood during treatmentHow to tell ordinary worry from something that needs helpThe emotional side of living with a stomaWhere most of the hidden distress sitsLooking after yourself as a caregiverFor the family member who is wearing downColon cancer support groups in HyderabadTalking to people who have been through it
Talk to us
Is the worry taking up more room than the treatment?
Tell us what has changed in mood, sleep or appetite, for the patient or for you. We will arrange a conversation with someone trained to help, timed around treatment visits where we can. One helpline serves every CION centre.