Robertson, Sharon E.McCowan, Michelle Elizabeth2018-05-012018-05-012018-04-25McCowan, M. E. (2018). "The challenge led to healing": Survivors’ experiences of emotional distress in a breast cancer recovery group (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/31865http://hdl.handle.net/1880/106579As the number of women living beyond breast cancer continues to grow, the issue of emotional distress during survivorship has become increasingly salient. Many breast cancer survivors, distressed or not, choose to seek post-treatment support through group programs. Nonetheless, there has been a startling lack of research into participants’ experiences within these survivorship groups. In this study, I conducted semi-structured interviews with five breast cancer survivors who felt distressed during their participation in a cancer recovery group program. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) of participants’ experiences resulted in three overarching themes: (a) Contextual Challenges and Distress, (b) Group-Related Challenges and Distress, and (c) Coping and Healing. I discuss these findings within the context of relevant literature and present implications for group facilitators, care providers, and researchers in psychosocial oncology.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Psychosocial OncologyCancer RecoveryGroup SupportSurvivorship CareIllness Support GroupsBreast Cancerqualitative researchInterpretative Phenomenological AnalysisHealth Care ManagementMental HealthOncologymaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/31865