Penny Brohn UK

Penny Brohn UK, formerly known as the Bristol Cancer Help Centre (BCHC), is a cancer charity that was founded in 1980. It is Britain's only cancer center to emphasize the larger care of the patient (i.e. emotional, mental, spiritual, etc.) beyond their physical conditions.[1] Specifically, the so-called "Bristol Approach" works off of the study of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)- which is the study of the connections between our mind (psycho), nervous system (neuro) and immune system (immunology).[2] Interest in this method of treatment began as early as the 1970s. Penny Brohn was an original partner of the BCHC with the original help of Christopher Pilkington, Pat Pilkington, and Dr. Alec Forbes.[3] Their credibility was soon after damaged from a flawed report claiming their practices as counter-production to the patient's condition. Over time, the BCHC recovered and regained its reputation. Today, the center educates its clients on many self-help tools and offers practical advice to maintain emotional stability while undergoing cancer treatment.[2] They also participate in influential studies of music therapy and other treatments.

A unique Venn diagram laying out Penny Brohn UK's unique outlook on patient treatment.[4]

Penny Brohn UK's biggest claim to fame is its contribution to music therapy. Common conditions that both listening to music and free improvisational music therapy has been shown to access include withdrawal, general expression of feelings, anger, fear, anxiety, extreme physical tension, confusion, loneliness, complex pain problems and each patient's search for meaning.[1] There are many reasons why music therapy has been a main practice for BCHC. Its philosophy of increasing confidence, feeling powerful and being in control- as well as their approach in stressing an integration of mind, body and spirit- correlates well with music therapy's holistic and unifying effects on recipients.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Bunt, Leslie; Burns, Sarah; Turton, Pat (2000-12-01). "Variations on a Theme: The Evolution of a Music Therapy Research Programme at the Bristol Cancer Help Centre". British Journal of Music Therapy. 14 (2): 62–69. doi:10.1177/135945750001400203. ISSN 1359-4575. S2CID 76038951.
  2. ^ a b "Penny Brohn UK (formerly The Bristol Cancer Help Centre)". CANCERactive. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  3. ^ Weir, Michael (1993-01-01). "Bristol cancer help centre: success and setbacks but the journey continues". Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 1 (1): 42–45. doi:10.1016/0965-2299(93)90138-4. ISSN 0965-2299.
  4. ^ "Penny Brohn UK - Live Well With Cancer". Retrieved 2021-04-13.