Psycho-oncology Program

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Cancer Psychiatry Support

At Pacific Neuroscience Institute, patients and their loved ones are often dealing with the news of a life-changing or devastating diagnosis.

The Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Psycho-oncology Program is designed to make sure no one has to go through this process alone. We help people overcome emotional or functional issues and focus on optimizing quality of life in all phases of treatment or recovery.

It takes a village and our program, in conjunction with Oncology Supportive Care Services at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, is a network of interdisciplinary specialists, working as a team to build a support community around you and your loved ones.

Psycho-oncology specialty care

Our psycho-oncology specialty team offers compassionate, personalized care for patients with cancer-related brain health issues, such as:

Coping with the diagnosis
Experiencing side effects of treatment
Adjusting to changes in functioning during and after treatment
Cognitive issues such as “chemo-brain”
Psychiatric illness such as depression or anxiety, in the context of cancer treatment
Physical difficulties such as pain or insomnia
Difficulties returning to work or life after cancer

Nurturing support for your mind, body and spirit is our focus.

Multidisciplinary, innovative, thoughtful, and individualized care is our goal.

Walking with you on your treatment journey and getting you back to living fully is our success.

About Dr. Shanthi Gowrinathan

Dr. Shanthi Gowrinathan, Director of Psycho-oncology, is an accomplished inpatient and outpatient psychiatrist, specializing in both Women’s Psychiatry and Psycho-oncology (Cancer Psychiatry) who works collaboratively in the care of her patients. Dr. Gowrinathan integrates her recommendations with the patient’s medical teams to ensure a whole person, interdisciplinary and cohesive treatment approach. Gifted with the strong ability to empathetically connect with her patients quickly, Dr. Gowrinathan is proficient at diagnosing and treating psychiatric disease in the context of complex medical issues such as cancer diagnosis.