Cancer Doesn't End When Treatment Does: The Counsellor Supporting Life Beyond Cancer

For many people, ringing the bell, completing surgery or reaching the end of a course of cancer treatment is expected to feel like the finish line. But emotionally, it can be anything but.

For specialist counsellor Claire Francis, founder of Counselling with Cancer, this is a message she wants more people, families and employers to understand.

“Cancer doesn’t end when the surgery or treatment ends,” Claire explains. “For some people, this is really just the beginning.”

It is this understanding that sits at the heart of Counselling with Cancer, Claire’s specialist counselling practice supporting people through the emotional realities of cancer, treatment, recovery, bereavement and life beyond a diagnosis.

Finding a specialist purpose

Claire’s career began as a placement within an NHS GP surgery and over time she felt increasingly drawn towards specialising in cancer counselling, once offered a position as a volunteer counsellor for Macmillan

“I felt it was time to invest in myself and work in a more niche area of cancer that I feel so passionate about,” she says.

Today, Counselling with Cancer has grown beyond its Surrey roots, with Claire working from Dorking and Reigate as well as a clinic in Wimpole Street, London.

Building a specialist practice has inevitably required patience. Developing a client base, creating professional connections and becoming visible within the communities she wants to support have all been part of the journey.

Networking, however, is one part Claire has embraced wholeheartedly.

“Learn your niche, invest in your niche and get networking,” is her advice to other founders looking to establish themselves within a specialist field.

Unravelling the emotional impact of cancer

Cancer treatment understandably places significant emphasis on the physical body. But behind appointments, medication, surgery and medical terminology is a person processing an enormous amount of emotional change.

Claire describes this as helping clients unravel a “ball of string” — or “Mr Messy”, as she sometimes calls it.

Her counselling room provides a non-judgemental space where clients can say the things they may feel unable to say to their partner, children, friends or wider family.

There may be fear about the future, anger about what has happened, difficult decisions surrounding treatment, changes in relationships or anxiety about returning to everyday life.

“There are things people want to say to me that they can’t say to anyone else,” Claire explains.

Part of her role is helping clients work through those emotions while navigating decisions, treatment and the longer-term impact cancer can have on their lives.

That emotional support can remain important long after active treatment has finished.

Cancer has its own language

Working in such a specialist area also means continually learning.

“Cancer has its own language, which is constantly changing,” Claire says. “Treatments change all the time, medication changes, surgeries change — there is so much to learn.”

Rather than seeing that constant evolution as a drawback, it is one of the reasons she remains passionate about her work.

It also became particularly important during the pandemic, when Claire supported Macmillan clients remotely.

Not everyone was comfortable or able to access online therapy, meaning many counselling sessions took place over the telephone. Having undertaken specialist telephone and online counselling training, Claire found that active listening became even more important when the usual visual cues of face-to-face therapy disappeared.

Why the dragonfly matters

At the centre of the Counselling with Cancer brand is a dragonfly — a symbol Claire chose very deliberately.

A dragonfly begins its life in water before eventually emerging and transforming. Once that transformation has taken place, it cannot simply return to its previous existence.

For Claire, there are parallels with the experience of profound life change.

“The dragonfly represents hope, resilience and transformation,” she explains.

A cancer diagnosis can bring uncertainty and fear not only for the person diagnosed, but for everyone who loves and cares for them. Claire sees the dragonfly as a reminder that although circumstances can change dramatically, people can still discover strength, meaning and moments of peace.

She also sees transformation within her therapy room.

People may begin to accept themselves differently, learn how to live alongside cancer or find a way of processing grief and bereavement.

The symbolism is particularly meaningful in Claire’s bereavement work, where the dragonfly can represent change, connection and moving through loss.

Looking after the counsellor

Supporting people through cancer, loss and significant life changes also requires Claire to protect her own emotional wellbeing.

Self-care forms an important part of maintaining a healthy practice. She attends counselling herself once a month alongside professional supervision with a supervisor highly experienced in cancer.

Outside work, living in the Surrey Hills gives her plenty of opportunity to walk. She has also recently started Pilates, attends regular sound-healing sessions and makes time for holidays and breaks.

Maintaining that balance allows her to continue holding space for clients dealing with complex and often deeply emotional circumstances.

The overlooked challenge of returning to work

Claire now wants to take the conversation beyond the counselling room.

One area she is particularly passionate about is supporting people returning to work following a cancer diagnosis.

The return to the workplace can be a major milestone, but it does not necessarily mean someone's cancer experience has ended. Some people continue taking medication or receiving treatment for years, while others may be managing fatigue, anxiety, changes in confidence or the ongoing psychological impact of their diagnosis.

Claire believes employers and managers need greater awareness around how these conversations are handled, including understanding appropriate questions, demonstrating empathy and being aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act.

She hopes to work increasingly with organisations through corporate wellbeing days, helping employers better understand what returning to work after cancer can actually look and feel like.

Taking the conversation further

Visibility has become an increasingly important part of Claire’s mission.

Earlier this year, an approach through a private medical GP in Harley Street helped encourage her expansion into Wimpole Street. She has also been approached about opening an additional counselling room in Reigate.

Beyond her clinics, Claire has been taking Counselling with Cancer directly into communities. During the summer she attended the first Look Good Feel Better festival in Surrey and is due to attend the Winter Wellness Guildford Festival, where she will run a small workshop alongside meeting visitors at her stand.

She is also preparing for a future exhibition at the Alexandra Palace Wellness Fair.

Her reach is extending through radio too, with Counselling with Cancer sponsoring Dave Stewart’s weekly Thursday morning show on London Music Radio.

For Claire, these appearances aren't simply about promoting a counselling business. They are about being visible enough that someone who needs support feels comfortable approaching her, asking a question or starting a conversation.

“Like the dragonfly, I want to be able to help and transform as many people as possible,” she says.

The next chapter for Counselling with Cancer is therefore about more than geographical expansion. It is about increasing understanding of the emotional impact of cancer — within families, communities and workplaces — and reminding people that support can continue long after physical treatment has finished.

Claire describes her vision simply: “Life beyond cancer.”

https://www.counsellingwithcancer.co.uk/