Spring 2009 WORKSHOPS

All of Cancer Connection's workshops are free of charge to people diagnosed with cancer and their families and caregivers.

For a printer friendly copy of upcoming activities and events, click here
Cancer Connection will offer several Saturday and evening workshops this
year.  Please call 586-1642 if you are interested in attending.

Dates to be Announced:

Teaming with your Doctors led by Paula Murphy, oncology social worker at Cooley Dickinson

Hospital, and Betsy Neisner, cancer survivor and executive director of Cancer Connection.

Patients in today’s health system are expected to collaborate on medical decisions.  This

workshop will empower you to find a doctor you can feel comfortable working with, and to

collaborate effectively with your medical team in choosing treatments, understanding test

results, side effects and medical lingo, and in advocating for care that fits you as an

individual. 

 
Community Cancer Conversation led by Katherine Walsh,Ph.D., MSW, professor at the

Springfield College School of Social Work, Lindsay Rockwell, D.O., CC Board

Member and oncologist at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and Betsy Neisner, cancer survivor and

executive director of Cancer Connection.  How could the cancer care resources in the Valley be

improved?   By bringing together patients and their families, medical and mental health

professionals, hospital administrators, clergy, hospice and visiting nurses, community groups

like Cancer Connection and probate attorneys, we may be able see through each other's eyes

and envision the ideal toward which we should be working and then figure out together how

to reach that ideal.

Couples Nurturing Each Other through Cancer led by Mary Ann Kelly, reflexologist and Reiki

master, and Nancy Carter-Price, Reiki Master.  Couples will learn how to reduce stress, nurture

and soothe themselves and each other emotionally and physically in non-sexual ways, using

such techniques as Reiki, massage and reflexology.

Many Voices as One:  Ensemble Singing   

Saturdays, Mar. 21 & 28, 2009

                                                                                                   from 10 to 3, lunch included

Vocal specialist and choral director Anne Louise White invites people diagnosed with cancer,

their families and caregivers to experience the joy of blending voices together.  She creates a

supportive environment that encourages participants to discover and develop the physical and

emotional release, enhanced health and sheer pleasure that singing offers.  The repertoire will

focus on songs of various musical genres from different countries and cultures celebrating hope

and courage.  At the end of the second workshop day, the participants may offer a concert for

their families and friends.

Teens and their Parents have Cancer: 

Coping with a Parent's Cancer...                  Saturday, April 4

                                                                                          from 10 to 2, lunch included

Led by Vivien Weiss, LMHC and Paula Murphy, MSW, this all-day workshop (with lunch) is

designed for teens ages 14 to 19 in the Northampton area who are coping with a parent

facing cancer, and for their parents.

What does it mean to a teenager when a mother or father is diagnosed with cancer?  Having a

parent who is dealing with a potentially life-threatening illness compounds the ordinary

challenges of adolescence.  Teenagers often feel isolated, depressed, guilty, ashamed or angry

and may be reticent to speak about what is going on at home for fear that they will make their

parents feel worse, prompt unwanted pity from friends, or find themselves misunderstood or

their feelings dismissed as unimportant.  They may find it burdensome having to explain

sometimes frightening details to their friends, who may not understand.

Parents are equally challenged when facing cancer treatment while raising adolescents.  They

want to strike the right balance of honesty and realism without causing undue fear.  They

want to maintain as normal a life as possible for their teenagers but can be overwhelmed by

the logistics of treatment schedules and the debilitating side effects of treatment.  They want

to project competence and control but often feel helpless in the grips of cancer.  Cancer

Connection is offering this workshop for teenagers from 14 to 19, living in the Northampton

area, who have a parent living with a cancer diagnosis, and for their parents.  Led by Paula

Murphy, MSW and Vivien Weiss, LMHC, both experienced support group facilitators with

expertise working with teenagers and families on issues surrounding serious illness, this

workshop will give participants a safe outlet to express what they otherwise may have been

holding in so that they can open communications and reduce stress.  The teens and their

parents will meet separately in the morning, and then gather for lunch and discussion.

Funded in part by the Northampton Youth Commission through a SPIFFY grant.