For the past 15 years, in her role as the psycho-oncology clinical lead/practitioner for the Gastrointestinal Tumor Group, Department of Psycho-Oncology/TBCC, Celestina Martopullo has provided a broad range of evidence-based multimodal interventions, integrated with research and education, to address the psychosocial, existential, and experiential distress experienced by patients and care systems across cancer pathways. She holds an adjunct lecturer appointment with the Department of Psychosocial Oncology Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.
Being formally trained in Clinical Social Work, Education, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has enabled her to combine and tailor psychotherapeutic and educational applications to unique psychosocial and educational needs of cancer patients. She has established a track record of success developing various CBT psychoeducational formats and delivering them to a range of audiences (patients, trainees, graduate clinical students, medical staff, other stakeholders). She has been exceptionally devoted to mentoring and teaching excellence, as a Lecturer: MDSC 535/635 course, Cumming School of Medicine (from 2010 – on); Supervisor/Field Instructor to MSW clinical trainees; and Adjunct Supervisor Calgary Consortium: Clinical Psychology Predoctoral Internship (from 2007 – on).
Celestina provides advanced, multiple evidence-based psycho-oncology clinical interventions including: individual/couple/family/group with the aim of encouraging patients’ healthy adaptive patterns of thought and behavior, minimizing cancer-related distress, enhancing coping, and improving quality of life.
She operates from an integrative perspective, drawing upon various psychotherapy theories (e.g., cognitive-behavioral, supportive-expressive, humanistic/existential, mind-body/spiritual, solution focused) and modifying interventions according to the exceptional psychosocial contexts of patients.
Celestina’s clinical practice offers the context for accelerating a GI psychosocial research agenda through leveraging clinical knowledge, skills, and multidisciplinary networking. Her direct work with patients has enabled her to translate clinically relevant questions into viable research projects. An example of this is the development of a pilot male-specific (supportive/expressive) novel group format, which emerged through her clinical work with male GI cancer patients. This clinical group context offers a unique, gender sensitive, experiential phenomenon to be explored and interpreted. Principles of phenomenological research and basic hermeneutic strategies – necessary to explore this under-researched phenomenon in clinical practice – stimulated the application of qualitative inquiries. Celestina’s engagement as a Principal Investigator in a mixed method longitudinal evaluation study of a supportive-expressive group therapy for men with GI cancers demonstrates her strong commitment to the science of care in the service of enhancing clinical practice. Her aptitude for qualitative studies and growth in qualitative methodological expertise adds a complementary diversity to the scientist-practitioner profile in our department, and contributes to mixed method research studies. This supports a broader definition of research by integrating both the Logic of Discovery and Justification. Celestina shows a great appreciation for this dialectical stance, which allows her to understand patients theoretically, empirically, and phenomenologically.