Tag: Cancer Education

This program is being offered over Zoom.

In order to participate, register by emailing Stephanie Stern at stephanie@hopeconnectionsforcancer.org.

Hosted in partnership with Hope Connections

 

with Mara Levy MSOT, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, SEP

After a cancer diagnosis, our relationship with our body changes. Unlike contagious illnesses or injuries, cancer develops inside our bodies. It can be hard to trust our body after what can feel like a profound betrayal. Let’s talk about how to repair our relationship with our bodies, learn to be friends with our bodies again, and rebuilding a sense of safety in our own bodies.

About Mara Levy MSOT, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, SEP

Mara Levy MSOT, OTR/L, CLT-LANA, SEP is a certified lymphatic therapist and somatic experiencing practitioner, and blends these areas to provide body-based mental health care and trauma-informed bodywork. They’ve been working with cancer survivors for over a decade. Their approach is neurodiversity affirming, fat positive and HAES-aligned, queer and trans affirming, antiracist, and liberation centered. They offer in-person care in downtown Silver Spring, MD and telehealth in DC, MD, and VA through their private practice Rainbow Spring Wellness at www.rainbowspringwellness.com.

Social media:  @rainbowspringwellness on Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram

This program is being offered over Zoom.

In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

Hosted in partnership with Hope Connections and Bright Spot Network

Bright Spot Network - Pledge

with Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Receiving a cancer diagnosis, going through treatment, and managing side effects all while continuing to live your life can often make you feel crazy. Many cancer survivors feel like their family and friends don’t understand and that they aren’t sure how to make sense of their identity after cancer. This workshop provides information on the prevalence of mental and emotional health issues among cancer survivors, normalizes the experience, and offers tools and resources for coping.

About Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Erin Price

Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

This program is being offered in a virtual format. In order to participate, please RSVP through the button above or email programs@smithcenter.org.

with Dr. McManamon, MD

Whole person cancer care involves learning what matters most to patients and engaging them in health and wellness behaviors that influence their wellbeing and longevity as cancer is treated. Such care explicitly addresses mind-body-behavior-social and spiritual aspects of a person’s life. This helps oncology teams manage the fear and confusion that come along with the disease and returns healing to medicine.

In the presentation, Dr. Alyssa McManamon will define whole person cancer care and illustrate how this type of care can become standard in all of oncology. She will summarize the science behind whole person care and the evidence that supports its application. She will describe how patients can take a more active role in their care, empowering them to craft a whole person approach to their treatment plan.

Finally, Dr. McManamon will introduce tools and resources available that oncologists, cancer care teams, and people with cancer and their loved ones can incorporate into their own healing journey.

—

About Alyssa McManamon, MD

Dr. McManamon is a triple-board certified hematologist-oncologist and associate professor of internal medicine and neurology at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine. Previously director of advanced clerkship programs for the F. Edward Hebért School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD, she is currently at the Dayton VA Medical Center where she runs a Whole Health Oncology clinic and mentors trainees in the hematology-oncology fellowship program. She is an author of Healing and Cancer published by Rodin Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster in May 2024.

Social Media
Instagram – @DrWayneJonas
Facebook – @Dr Wayne Jonas
X – @DrWayneJonas
LinkedIn – Dr Wayne Jonas/Dr. Alyssa McManamon
Vimeo – Dr. Wayne Jonas

Websites

  • HealingWorksFoundation.org
  • HowWeHealCampaign.com
  • HealingandCancerBook.com

This program is being offered in a hybrid format. It will be hosted in-person at Medstar Washington Hospital Center’s Siegel Auditorium and it will also be live-streamed virtually for those who cannot attend in-person. In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org. Please note if you plan to attend in-person.

with Julia Rowland, PhD

Cancer caregivers are ‘hidden’ survivors in the cancer experience. Many wonder if the help they provide is useful, even though research tells us that caregivers are vital to the wellbeing of their care recipient. Come learn how caregivers make a difference, discuss the common challenges that caregivers confront, and learn tools and techniques to take good care of yourself.

This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland, PhD, who joined Smith Center in October 2017, comes to this position as a long-time clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of psychosocial aspects of cancer. She has worked with and conducted competitively funded research among both pediatric and adult cancer survivors and their families, and published broadly in psycho-oncology, including co-editing, along with Dr. Jimmie Holland, the ground-breaking text, Handbook of Psychooncology.  She has also been a frequent speaker on cancer survivorship, or life after cancer, for both professional and lay audiences.

Julia received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in psychosocial oncology. While at MSKCC, where she held joint appointments in pediatrics and neurology, Julia helped to develop and was the first Director of the Post-Treatment Resource Program, one of the first non-medical survivorship care programs to be offered by a major cancer center in the U.S. In 1990 she moved with her husband and two young children to Washington, DC to become founding Director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Georgetown University and the Lombardi Cancer Center. There she helped expand services to meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and families, launched some of the first quality of life clinical trials, and also introduced a program to enable first year medical students to learn the art of caring for those living through and beyond cancer from survivors themselves and Lombardi faculty. Nine years later, in September of 1999, she was recruited to the National Cancer Institute to become the first, full-time Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, a position in which she served for 18 years, championing the growth of survivorship research and care, before stepping down in September 2017 to assume her new role at Smith Center. Although new to the team, Julia is no stranger to Smith Center. She knew Smith Center’s founder, Barbara Smith Coleman, and has volunteered her expertise across the years as a speaker, group leader and staff member for both the 1-day and weeklong residential retreats. Julia brings to her new role a passion to translate what research has taught us about healing in the context of cancer to the broader community, in essence, taking the science of survivorship from the lab bench to the park bench.

This program is being offered virtually only now.

In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

with Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Receiving a cancer diagnosis, going through treatment, and managing side effects all while continuing to live your life can often make you feel crazy. Many cancer survivors feel like their family and friends don’t understand and that they aren’t sure how to make sense of their identity after cancer. This workshop provides information on the prevalence of mental and emotional health issues among cancer survivors, normalizes the experience, and offers tools and resources for coping. This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Erin Price

Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

This program is being offered in a virtual format only.  

In order to receive the Zoom invite, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

with Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C & Julia Rowland, PhD

Part 4 of this 4 part series discusses the importance of healthy lifestyle in preventing cancer recurrence and risk reduction. We will talk about the various aspects of healthy lifestyle that have evidence related to cancer prevention: diet, weight management, physical activity, smoking, sun block use, and alcohol use.

Participants can choose to register to attend all 4 parts of this survivorship series, or specific sessions.

Survivorship 101 Sessions include:

  • February 6 – Part 1: Introduction to survivorship: definitions, transition to recovery challenges and developing a survivorship care plan.
  • February 20 – Part 2: Managing fear of recurrence, sleeping better and stressing less.
  • March 5 – Part 3: The importance of social support: Managing other’s expectations at home, at work, at school; communication with family, friends and colleagues and Finding (and using!) the right healing resources.
  • March 19 – Part 4: The importance of healthy lifestyle: diet, weight, physical activity, smoking, sun block use, alcohol use.

This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Julia H. Rowland, Ph.D.

Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland, PhD, who joined Smith Center in October 2017, comes to this position as a long-time clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of psychosocial aspects of cancer. She has worked with and conducted competitively funded research among both pediatric and adult cancer survivors and their families, and published broadly in psycho-oncology, including co-editing, along with Dr. Jimmie Holland, the ground-breaking text, Handbook of Psychooncology.  She has also been a frequent speaker on cancer survivorship, or life after cancer, for both professional and lay audiences.

Julia received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in psychosocial oncology. While at MSKCC, where she held joint appointments in pediatrics and neurology, Julia helped to develop and was the first Director of the Post-Treatment Resource Program, one of the first non-medical survivorship care programs to be offered by a major cancer center in the U.S. In 1990 she moved with her husband and two young children to Washington, DC to become founding Director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Georgetown University and the Lombardi Cancer Center. There she helped expand services to meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and families, launched some of the first quality of life clinical trials, and also introduced a program to enable first year medical students to learn the art of caring for those living through and beyond cancer from survivors themselves and Lombardi faculty. Nine years later, in September of 1999, she was recruited to the National Cancer Institute to become the first, full-time Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, a position in which she served for 18 years, championing the growth of survivorship research and care, before stepping down in September 2017 to assume her new role at Smith Center. Although new to the team, Julia is no stranger to Smith Center. She knew Smith Center’s founder, Barbara Smith Coleman, and has volunteered her expertise across the years as a speaker, group leader and staff member for both the 1-day and weeklong residential retreats. Julia brings to her new role a passion to translate what research has taught us about healing in the context of cancer to the broader community, in essence, taking the science of survivorship from the lab bench to the park bench.

About Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Erin Price

Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

This program is being offered virtually only now. To receive the Zoom link to join, please register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

with Julia Rowland, PhD

Part 3 of this 4-part series provides information on the importance of Social Support. This includes managing other’s expectations at home, at work, at school; communication with family, friends and colleagues and finding (and using!) the right healing resources.

Participants can choose to register to attend all 4 parts of this survivorship series, or specific sessions.

Survivorship 101 Sessions include:

  • February 6 – Part 1: Introduction to survivorship: definitions, transition to recovery challenges and developing a survivorship care plan.
  • February 20 – Part 2: Managing fear of recurrence, sleeping better and stressing less.
  • March 5 – Part 3: The importance of social support: Managing other’s expectations at home, at work, at school; communication with family, friends and colleagues and Finding (and using!) the right healing resources.
  • March 19 – Part 4: The importance of healthy lifestyle: diet, weight, physical activity, smoking, sun block use, alcohol use.

This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Julia H. Rowland, Ph.D.

Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland, PhD, who joined Smith Center in October 2017, comes to this position as a long-time clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of psychosocial aspects of cancer. She has worked with and conducted competitively funded research among both pediatric and adult cancer survivors and their families, and published broadly in psycho-oncology, including co-editing, along with Dr. Jimmie Holland, the ground-breaking text, Handbook of Psychooncology.  She has also been a frequent speaker on cancer survivorship, or life after cancer, for both professional and lay audiences.

Julia received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in psychosocial oncology. While at MSKCC, where she held joint appointments in pediatrics and neurology, Julia helped to develop and was the first Director of the Post-Treatment Resource Program, one of the first non-medical survivorship care programs to be offered by a major cancer center in the U.S. In 1990 she moved with her husband and two young children to Washington, DC to become founding Director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Georgetown University and the Lombardi Cancer Center. There she helped expand services to meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and families, launched some of the first quality of life clinical trials, and also introduced a program to enable first year medical students to learn the art of caring for those living through and beyond cancer from survivors themselves and Lombardi faculty. Nine years later, in September of 1999, she was recruited to the National Cancer Institute to become the first, full-time Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, a position in which she served for 18 years, championing the growth of survivorship research and care, before stepping down in September 2017 to assume her new role at Smith Center. Although new to the team, Julia is no stranger to Smith Center. She knew Smith Center’s founder, Barbara Smith Coleman, and has volunteered her expertise across the years as a speaker, group leader and staff member for both the 1-day and weeklong residential retreats. Julia brings to her new role a passion to translate what research has taught us about healing in the context of cancer to the broader community, in essence, taking the science of survivorship from the lab bench to the park bench.

As a reminder, this program is being offered in a hybrid format. It will be hosted in-person at Medstar Washington Hospital Center’s Siegel Auditorium and will also be live-streamed virtually for those who cannot attend in-person.

In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

with Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C & Julia Rowland, PhD

Part 2 of this 4-part series will focus on offering strategies to manage fear of recurrence, tips to improve sleep, and discuss ways to reduce stress.

Participants can choose to register to attend all 4 parts of this survivorship series, or specific sessions.

Survivorship 101 Sessions include:

  • February 6 – Part 1: Introduction to survivorship: definitions, transition to recovery challenges and developing a survivorship care plan.
  • February 20 – Part 2: Managing fear of recurrence, sleeping better and stressing less.
  • March 5 – Part 3: The importance of social support: Managing other’s expectations at home, at work, at school; communication with family, friends and colleagues and Finding (and using!) the right healing resources.
  • March 19 – Part 4: The importance of healthy lifestyle: diet, weight, physical activity, smoking, sun block use, alcohol use.

This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C

Erin Price

Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

About Julia H. Rowland, Ph.D.

Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland, PhD, who joined Smith Center in October 2017, comes to this position as a long-time clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of psychosocial aspects of cancer. She has worked with and conducted competitively funded research among both pediatric and adult cancer survivors and their families, and published broadly in psycho-oncology, including co-editing, along with Dr. Jimmie Holland, the ground-breaking text, Handbook of Psychooncology.  She has also been a frequent speaker on cancer survivorship, or life after cancer, for both professional and lay audiences.

Julia received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in psychosocial oncology. While at MSKCC, where she held joint appointments in pediatrics and neurology, Julia helped to develop and was the first Director of the Post-Treatment Resource Program, one of the first non-medical survivorship care programs to be offered by a major cancer center in the U.S. In 1990 she moved with her husband and two young children to Washington, DC to become founding Director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Georgetown University and the Lombardi Cancer Center. There she helped expand services to meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and families, launched some of the first quality of life clinical trials, and also introduced a program to enable first year medical students to learn the art of caring for those living through and beyond cancer from survivors themselves and Lombardi faculty. Nine years later, in September of 1999, she was recruited to the National Cancer Institute to become the first, full-time Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, a position in which she served for 18 years, championing the growth of survivorship research and care, before stepping down in September 2017 to assume her new role at Smith Center. Although new to the team, Julia is no stranger to Smith Center. She knew Smith Center’s founder, Barbara Smith Coleman, and has volunteered her expertise across the years as a speaker, group leader and staff member for both the 1-day and weeklong residential retreats. Julia brings to her new role a passion to translate what research has taught us about healing in the context of cancer to the broader community, in essence, taking the science of survivorship from the lab bench to the park bench.

This program is being offered in a hybrid format. It will be hosted in-person at Medstar Washington Hospital Center’s Siegel Auditorium and will also be live-streamed virtually for those who cannot attend in-person.

In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

Please indicate in the notes if you plan to attend virtually or in-person.

with Julia Rowland, PhD

Part 1 of this 4-part series will focus on offering an introduction to survivorship. We will review important definitions, discuss transition to recovery challenges and the importance of developing a survivorship care plan.

Participants can choose to register to attend all 4 parts of this survivorship series, or specific sessions.

Survivorship 101 Sessions include:

  • February 6 – Part 1: Introduction to survivorship: definitions, transition to recovery challenges and developing a survivorship care plan.
  • February 20 – Part 2: Managing fear of recurrence, sleeping better and stressing less.
  • March 5 – Part 3: The importance of social support: Managing other’s expectations at home, at work, at school; communication with family, friends and colleagues and Finding (and using!) the right healing resources.
  • March 19 – Part 4: The importance of healthy lifestyle: diet, weight, physical activity, smoking, sun block use, alcohol use.

This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

About Julia H. Rowland, Ph.D.

Julia Rowland

Julia Rowland, PhD, who joined Smith Center in October 2017, comes to this position as a long-time clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of psychosocial aspects of cancer. She has worked with and conducted competitively funded research among both pediatric and adult cancer survivors and their families, and published broadly in psycho-oncology, including co-editing, along with Dr. Jimmie Holland, the ground-breaking text, Handbook of Psychooncology.  She has also been a frequent speaker on cancer survivorship, or life after cancer, for both professional and lay audiences.

Julia received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in psychosocial oncology. While at MSKCC, where she held joint appointments in pediatrics and neurology, Julia helped to develop and was the first Director of the Post-Treatment Resource Program, one of the first non-medical survivorship care programs to be offered by a major cancer center in the U.S. In 1990 she moved with her husband and two young children to Washington, DC to become founding Director of the Psycho-Oncology Program at Georgetown University and the Lombardi Cancer Center. There she helped expand services to meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and families, launched some of the first quality of life clinical trials, and also introduced a program to enable first year medical students to learn the art of caring for those living through and beyond cancer from survivors themselves and Lombardi faculty. Nine years later, in September of 1999, she was recruited to the National Cancer Institute to become the first, full-time Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, a position in which she served for 18 years, championing the growth of survivorship research and care, before stepping down in September 2017 to assume her new role at Smith Center. Although new to the team, Julia is no stranger to Smith Center. She knew Smith Center’s founder, Barbara Smith Coleman, and has volunteered her expertise across the years as a speaker, group leader and staff member for both the 1-day and weeklong residential retreats. Julia brings to her new role a passion to translate what research has taught us about healing in the context of cancer to the broader community, in essence, taking the science of survivorship from the lab bench to the park bench.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jessica Gelfarb, MSW, LICSW & Sara Richman, LICSW, GW Cancer Center 

This monthly support group is designed for adult patients/survivors diagnosed with gynecologic cancers (including cervical, endometrial, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers) and their caregivers. The group will incorporate education lectures coupled with emotional support and is hosted by and offered in partnership with the GW Cancer Center.

GW Cancer Center Head and Neck Cancer Support Group

The Gynecologic Cancer Support Group meets Monthly on the 1st Tuesday from 11:00am-12:00pm ET.

About Jessica Gelfarb, MSW, LICSW

Jessica Gelfarb

Jessica is a licensed clinical social worker who has experience working with patients and families facing a range of medical diagnoses in both inpatient and outpatient settings.  She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from University of Michigan and her masters degree in social work from University of Maryland with a focus on clinical and medical social work. Jessica recently joined the team at the George Washington University  cancer center as an oncology social worker. Prior to her role at GW Jessica worked extensively with organ transplant patients at Medstar Georgetown Transplant Institute and co-led the institute’s transplant support group. She has also spent time working on cardiology and intensive care units throughout her career.  Jessica initially became interested in pursuing oncology social work after attending the Association of Oncology Social Work’s annual conference a number of years ago as well as observing first- hand the widespread impact that cancer has on so many individuals and families.   She is passionate about partnering with patients in order to provide psychosocial and emotional support as they navigate their diagnosis and treatment.

About Sara Richman, LICSW

Sara Richman, LICSW is a licensed and certified oncology clinical social worker (OSW-C). She received her masters in social work (MSW) at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Prior to working at GW, Sara was an oncology clinical social worker at MedStar Washington Hospital Center where she worked with all types of blood cancers and disorders.