Dr Janet Reibstein

Dr Reibstein is a psychotherapist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Exeter and author of, among other books, ‘Staying Alive: A Family Memoir’ (published by Bloomsbury US and Bloomsbury UK) which documents the story of breast cancer and its treatment over a fifty-year post-war period, through the stories of how it affected various members of her family over fifty years, culminating in her own attempt to pre-empt cancer through preventative mastectomy and her subsequent experience -- and defeat --of breast cancer. Prof. Reibstein was part of a family in which her mother and two aunts died of breast cancer; each was diagnosed as a young mother, each at the centre of their families, in a time when there was both little knowledge and little discussion of it. In contrast when it hit the next generation-- her first cousin and Dr Reibstein, herself, the story was completely different, and much more knowledge and empowerment, with many more choices for treatment, and for many much better prognoses, including for both of them, potential - and finally- cure.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Avon’s support of breast cancer charities, Professor Reibstein co-authored the Avon Breast Promise Report. The report explores why, despite all the information available, woman are still not regularly checking their breasts and based on the psychology behind what will motivate a change in this behaviour. The research looked at what might motivate women at different stages of their lives to develop potentially life- saving and empowering habits of checking their breasts.