Patients > Education and Support > Psychosocial Counseling

Psychosocial Counseling

A diagnosis of cancer and its ensuing treatment causes a great deal of stress for both patients and their families. The Cancer Counseling Service assists patients and families by providing support, coping techniques, and interventions that help patients regain a sense of well-being and address personal and relationship issues resulting from the cancer experience.

The Cancer Counseling Service is available to any patient or family member being treated at the Abramson Cancer Center.

To obtain an appointment with one of our experienced counselors, please call 1-800-789-PENN.

In addition to individual and family counseling, we provide a variety of support groups. Our support group meetings provide information on topics of interest in a supportive environment where patients and families can share experiences, gain insights, and learn ways of coping with the uncertainty and changes that occur during the cancer experience.

About Our Counselors

Margaret Lazar, MS, MSW, LCSW is the Director of Patient and Family Services and a licensed social worker. She has worked in a variety of treatment settings, providing individual, couple and group therapy with people with both psychiatric and medical illness and has worked at the University of Pennsylvania Health System since 1989.

Ruth Steinman, MD is a psychiatrist board certified in adult and geriatric psychiatry. In private practice since 1991, Dr. Steinman specializes in the care of individuals with medical illness and its impact on emotional disturbance. Dr. Steinman combines individual psychotherapy with psychopharmacologic therapies in the care of her patients. She joined the cancer center's counseling service in 2005.