BRiC Centre - Building Resilience in Breast Cancer Centre

Do you have a few minutes to spare? If you have a diagnosis of primary breast cancer and have finished active treatment (you can be on herceptin, AIs and/or Tamoxifen) please consider taking part in this online study on fear of cancer recurrence. It’s short, online, and can be accessed from your phone/laptop/ipad etc.

This study is in collaboration with BRiC and has received full ethical approval.

Please email Bethan [email protected] for the link to the study

Many thanks

New Online Support Programme for early breast cancer

Our colleagues at Edge Hill University are trialling a new online support programme. Please email Kian Hughes, the PhD researcher who is running the study. You have to be diagnosed within the last 12 months! and with primary breast cancer. Kian's email address is: [email protected]

Many thanks. As always, we encourage participation in research aiming to improve our quality of lives! see poster below 👇

Please sign this petition! Seconds count. 🙏 fans

Enhertu is a drug that could extend thousands of lives. But it was rejected for use on the NHS in 2024 for being too expensive. Since then, thousands of people have missed out on the drug. And many have died. Robbed of the extra time it could have given them.

We now have a chance to stop anybody else missing out. But we need to act quickly, because the people who need this drug don’t have time to wait.

That's why, alongside METUP UK and Make 2nds Count we’re calling on Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, NHS England and NICE to urgently reach a deal to make Enhertu available on the NHS.

Sign the petition now: https://brnw.ch/21x2GZK

“We don’t have years to wait for negotiations. Every month matters. Every decision has real consequences for real families. Act with urgency, because behind every statistic is someone like me, trying to hold onto as much life as possible.” Sophie

“It’s cruel that my life has a price tag, and that price tag could see a young girl lose her mum sooner as a result. Every month I’m alive is another month closer to the hope of new treatment. But what’s the point of hope if I can’t access it. It’s torturous.” Kathryn

✨Featuring Professor Nazanin Derakhshan ✨

Head of the GRiT (Growth and Resilience in Trauma) Centre.

Naz moved to NCIO from The University of Reading, UK. She also founded the BRiC Centre for breast cancer resilience. A breast cancer survivor, she was honored in 'Birkbeck Inspires' for her transformative research.

Her work focuses on neurocognitive mechanisms of anxiety and depression, developing interventions for vulnerable populations.

The GRiT centre focuses on:

1. Clinical care to foster post-traumatic growth for cancer patients and their support networks

2. Research initiatives aimed at integrating oncology programs effectively

3. Training healthcare professionals through our 3-month hybrid course on trauma-competent integrative psycho-oncology

Follow us and learn more about our educational course at www.ncio.org.uk

Forgetting words? Can’t seem to concentrate like before? Slower than usual? Find it difficult to learn new things? Easily distracted? Mentally fatigued!? …. And the list continues.

Chemo brain is real and a common side effect of cancer diagnosis and treatment. But how do we deal with it? fans

Head to YouTube to watch our founder Prof Nazanin Derakshan discuss this with Life After Cancer charity.

Chemo Brain After Cancer: Why It Happens and What Helps Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why you’re there? Lost your words halfway through a sentence, or read the same email three times and still not...

"Resilience is not forged in the denial of vulnerability, but in its acceptance. Not in bouncing back, but in integrating what has happened into who you are becoming."

This beautiful article resonates very much with BRiC's mantra on how vulnerability and resilience are two sides of the same coin. We carry our vulnerability forward but are not consumed by it, we rise above it.

‘Bouncing back’ is a myth – resilience means integrating hard experiences into your life story, not ignoring them Push through, stay strong, fight back – people often think of resilience as being tough and having grit. But research suggests it’s more about acknowledging the scars as you continue to move forward.

“Let It Go” – BRiC describes Overthinking and how to Overcome it.

In a previous Sunday discussion, we shared our experiences of overthinking the past (also known as rumination) and our fears about the future (also known as worry). We talked about how breast cancer has affected our thinking and how we react to uncertainty can breed our overthinking.

We shared how overthinking can sometimes get the better of us, that we wake up at weird times in the night and get stuck in these repetitive negative cycles of thinking, how it can interfere with our sleep. Some of us described its effect as paralysing, holding us captive, how it can lead us to self-blame and grieve over our actions; make us feel low in self-esteem and confidence.

We may have a predisposition to ruminate about the past, and/or worry about the future, because of our childhood experiences, and learning to feel guilty and self-blame. Having breast cancer also increases our tendency to overthink. Of course these tendencies are even more alive in situations where we feel alone. Yes, we have a lot of time to think and overthink, fear the future, and detail what we could have, or should have, done better.

Research shows that overthinking the past can predict later depression, and interestingly it is more prevalent in women than men.

Our research shows that when we get stuck in cycles of negative thinking we use up quite a bit of our cognitive resources. So, overthinking can slow the brain down. Excessive rumination and worry can be interfering, and circumstances which breed uncertainty and lack of control over our immediate situations can enhance rumination. The brain is trying to make sense of what is happening. We discussed that if we acknowledge it, give it some space, then it is less likely to dominate us. While this may sound counter-intuitive, as we would immediately want to fight it and push it aside, it can make our thoughts less threatening. Some of us have developed a laid back approach, others have found meditation and fresh air helpful. Structured breathing has also helped. Gratitude and counting blessings were also mentioned as useful strategies.

RE-sharing a previous discussion.

“Let It Go” – BRiC describes Overthinking and how to Overcome it.

In our recent Sunday discussion, we shared our experiences of overthinking the past (also known as rumination) and our fears about the future (also known as worry). We talked about how breast cancer has affected our thinking and how we react when uncertainty can breed our overthinking.

We shared how overthinking can sometimes get the better of us, that we wake up at weird times in the night and get stuck in these repetitive negative cycles of thinking, how it can interfere with our sleep. Some of us described its effect as paralysing, holding us captive, how it can lead us to self-blame and grieve over our actions; make us feel low in self-esteem and confidence.

Some of us thought we had a predisposition to ruminate about the past, and/or worry about the future, because of our childhood experiences, and learning to feel guilty and self-blame. Having breast cancer also increases our tendency to overthink. Of course these tendencies are even more alive in situations where we feel alone and are in self-isolation. Yes, we have a lot of time to think and overthink, fear the future, and detail what we could have, or should have, done better.

Research shows that overthinking the past is one of the biggest predictors of later depression, and worry closely tied with anxiety. Interestingly, rumination discriminates, it is more prevalent in women than men.

A lot of our research shows that when we get stuck in cycles of negative thinking we are using up quite a bit of our cognitive resources that would have otherwise been used more efficiently getting stuff done. So, overthinking can slow the brain down, making us inefficient and sluggish. While rumination and worry can be natural responses of the brain, when they get excessive they become interfering, and circumstances which breed uncertainty and lack of control over our immediate situations can enhance our tendency to worry and ruminate. The brain is trying to make sense of what is happening.

What tips can help manage overthinking and help us gain some control?

We discussed that if we acknowledge it, give it some space, then it is less likely to dominate us. While this may sound counter-intuitive, as we would immediately want to fight it and push it aside, it can actually make our thoughts less threatening. Some of us have developed a laid back approach, others have found meditation and fresh air helpful. Structured breathing has also helped. Finding resources to be grateful and count blessings were also mentioned as useful strategies.

Our brain has an amazing capacity to learn and to adapt because its ultimate goal is to help us survive in the most effective manner. However when our brains respond, with fear, with overthinking, with sadness and so forth, they are signalling emotions that are critical to our experiences to our being as humans. The strength we want is to be able to embrace them and listen to them, perhaps let go of their controlling forces because then they may not be so loud once they are heard, they may not be so threatening when they are embraced, and we may not need to overthink, when we have accepted.

If you are a woman in the UK affected by breast cancer and would like to join our private support group please leave your name in the comments or message us.

With love

Are you interested in understanding and improving the mental health care needs of individuals with a lived experience of cancer? Then consider this CPD course in:

Psycho‑Oncology and Trauma‑Competent Care in Cancer

The founder of the award winning BRiC Centre - Building Resilience in Breast Cancer Centre Professor Nazanin Derakshan, which has helped thousands of women with a lived experience of breast cancer rebuild their lives with resilience in survivorship through its transformative research, psycho education and community support, is director of the above course in her role as Head of the Growth and Resilience in Trauma Centre (GRiT) at the National Centre for Integrative Oncology - NCIO

This course is committed to addressing the mental health support gap in cancer care. It is designed for healthcare professionals and students interested in oncology, offering research‑driven knowledge and practical, evidence‑based tools to better support people with lived experience of cancer.

The course runs online over 10 weeks, with three in‑person training days near Reading. The first cohort (Jan–March) is underway with a range of participants —oncologists, nurses, nutritionists, yoga practitioners, and healthcare trainees—who’ve been very rewarding to teach.

If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, please email Louise at [email protected] for details and registration. Applications are now open for the April–July cohort, with space for 20–25 students.

Interested in understanding and improving the mental health care needs of individuals with a lived experience of cancer? Then consider this CPD course in:

Psycho‑Oncology and Trauma‑Competent Care in Cancer

The founder of the award winning BRiC Centre, Professor Nazanin Derakshan, which has helped thousands of women with a lived experience of breast cancer rebuild their lives with resilience in survivorship through its transformative research, psycho education and community support, is director of the above course in her role as Head of the Growth and Resilience in Trauma Centre (GRiT) at the National Centre for Integrative Oncology (NCIO).

This course is committed to addressing the mental health support gap in cancer care. It is designed for healthcare professionals and students interested in oncology, offering research‑driven knowledge and practical, evidence‑based tools to better support people with lived experience of cancer. The course runs online over 10 weeks, with three in‑person training days near Reading.

The first cohort (Jan–March) is underway with a range of participants —oncologists, nurses, nutritionists, yoga practitioners, and healthcare trainees—who’ve been very rewarding to teach.

If you’re interested, eligible, or know someone who might be, please check the information below. You can email Louise at [email protected] for details and registration. Applications are now open for the April–July cohort, with space for 20–25 students.