Marissa A. Cangin, Psy.D.

Marissa A. Cangin, Psy.D., is an associate clinical professor and licensed psychologist in the Division of Psychology, Department of Supportive Care Medicine, at City of Hope. Prior to joining the faculty at City of Hope, she was director of Psychosocial Oncology Services at Cornerstone Hematology/Oncology and the Hayworth Cancer Center, now Wake Forest Baptist Health in High Point, North Carolina where she served as chair of the Oncology Support Subcommittee and developed a survivorship program aimed to ease the post-treatment transition, reinforce surveillance/adherence to follow-up recommendations and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors. She additionally served as a clinical consultant with Guideposts of Strength Inc. (cancerGPS.org), a grant funded program offering an interactive website, trusted experts of various disciplines, volunteers, mentors. and educational and social programs for newly diagnosed patients and their family members. At City of Hope, she supervises the postdoctoral fellow and provides psychological interventions to both inpatients and outpatients. She has specialty areas including helping patients with procedural anxiety (e.g., claustrophobia), fear of cancer recurrence/progression, and death anxiety.

 

Dr. Cangin recognizes that cancer and its treatment is as much a psychological journey as it is a physical one. She has special interest in supporting people emotionally through their cancer journey. Dr. Cangin received her undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, where she was inducted in Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology. She then went on to earn her Psy.D. from Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pennsylvania. During this time, Dr. Cangin completed a predoctoral internship at Minnesota Neurorehabilitation Services in Brainerd, Minnesota, and was awarded the Existential-Humanistic Theory and Application Award by the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. She continued her postdoctoral training by completing two fellowships, the first in HMO-based clinical psychology at Kaiser Permanente in Salem, Oregon, and the latter in psychosocial oncology from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Cangin is the recipient of several honors and awards. In 2009, her research proposal titled “Reducing Dyspnea in Patients with Lung Cancer through a Breathing Intervention” was chosen for National Cancer Institute concept development. Dr. Cangin has authored numerous articles and regularly gives presentations on her work. She is affiliated with a number of professional societies including the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, and has chaired subcommittees on survivorship care planning and distress screening. She participates in National Institutes of Health grant-funded research, including training oncology clinicians in cognitive behavioral therapy strategies. She also served as co-investigator for the feasibility study, “Psychosocial support intervention for fear of cancer progression in patients with advanced cancer” in which she assisted with intervention fidelity. This has led to ongoing participation in grants with a similar focus.