Meta-analysis of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy Reducing Existential Distress in Late-stage Cancer Patients

Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) is an existential therapy that assists cancer patients in identifying sources that bring meaning to their lives. MCP aims to improve patients’ well-being and reduce their existential distress. This is a form of distress that emerges when individuals lose a sense of meaning after facing their mortality. This proposed study will offer new insights as to the effects of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy on reducing existential distress for late-stage cancer patients. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate whether Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy is effective in reducing existential distress compared to other active psychological interventions. I will synthesize data from late-stage cancer patients who received MCP and compare their outcomes to those who received other psychological treatments. I am hypothesizing that Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy will be more effective in decreasing existential distress in late-stage cancer patients than other psychological interventions. This is a well-supported hypothesis, as there have been multiple studies across the globe that demonstrated MCP’s effectiveness over other psychology-based interventions.