Gabriel Cartagena, PhD, is a psychologist and associate director of the Yale Psycho-Oncology Program. His goal is to provide patients and their families with the support and tools they need to not only survive their cancer diagnosis but live a full and meaningful life.
He is committed to providing care that respects and aligns with each patient's individual needs, goals, and values. “With a cancer diagnosis and treatment can come a sense of helplessness and hopelessness,” he says. “What often gets lost in the mix is what’s valuable to you. A key aspect of my work is truly understanding the richness of a person’s life, what is valuable to them, and what’s important to them throughout the process. Good outcomes, good quality of life; it stems from this.”
Cartagena’s personal experiences fuel his interest in public health and the connections between psychology and medicine. “I grew up in a military family from Puerto Rico, observing the ways cancer care and access impacted family and friends. I came to understand that cancer is not just a physical struggle. It has a significant mental toll that needs just as much support,” he says. “All of my previous experiences inform the way that I advocate for and support my patients and their families.”
In addition to his clinical work, Cartagena conducts research in medical education and health communication. His interests lie in understanding the ways in which patients communicate with their providers and their support systems and developing programs to support healthy communication for medical teams and patients. He is also interested in the ways communication can help improve cancer prevention. His overarching hope is to help make cancer care a more accessible, affirming, and trustworthy experience.
