This program is being offered in-person. To register, please click the RSVP button above or email programs@smithcenter.org.
with Chef Cathryn Pethick
A Season to Celebrate! Cooking Class
It’s a season to celebrate as cold Winter fades and the warm vitality of Spring arises! Especially by nourishing ourselves with simple, whole foods that show the best of both seasons, loaded with all the goodness Nature intends, with Winter’s sweet roots and Spring’s fresh greens, healing herbs and spices: nutrient dense, easily digestible, anti-inflammatory and immune supportive benefits- and absolutely delicious! In this vegetarian, hands-on cooking class, we’ll share the preparation of a cuppa healing tea, warm soup, a protein-rich slider, fresh cool salad, and even a healthy sweet. O yum!
And, check out more of Chef Cathryn’s programs on our YouTube channel, under “Nutrition & Cooking.”
Suggested Donation: $20
About Cathryn Pethick
Cathryn Pethick, AA, AYS, C-IAYT is a certified yoga therapist and teacher, Ayurveda specialist, and professional chef- whole foods cooking and nutrition instructor. She shares those skills with private clients through her own Well-Being, founded in 2012, and is on staff with Maryland University of Integrative Health’s Masters in Nutrition degree program. At Smith Center, Cathryn teaches cooking and nutrition classes, gentle yoga, and contributes to Smith Center’s wonderful integrative cancer support retreats as chef and yoga therapist. She has decades of experience in diverse culinary settings, practicing/teaching yoga from a therapeutic perspective, meditation, and the study of Ayurveda, diverse spiritual and philosophical traditions, and Oriental healing/martial arts. Cathryn shares the intention of nourishing well-being for us individually and as a collective with yoga, meditation and food-as-medicine, by cultivating the healing power of balance, optimal nutrition that supports our vitality, and compassionate presence that nurtures us all.
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 Ruth Milante
Creative expression has often been used in the healing process and it is at the core of Smith Center’s philosophy, but fear of judgment and “not being an artist” can often prevent us from tapping into its healing power. Join us for Outside the Lines, where a facilitator will help you reclaim art-making as a healing tool through guided creative projects. Participants who feel comfortable working on their own projects are also welcome to do so.
For this session, Ruth Milante will host her beloved “Tiny Stories”
Tiny Stories
Do you have a grand art plan with little time or skill to execute it?
A memory yearning to be expressed in both words and pictures?
Tiny Stories are a quick way to jumpstart your ideas without a big commitment.
All you need are 4-6 panels and your favorite drawing tools. We’ve attached a printable page but index cards, or any Comic Strip Template will do. You don’t need to be a professional writer or artist to tell a Tiny Story!
Outside the Lines is held Bi-Monthly on Wednesdays from 10:30am – 12:00pm. The Social Hour sessions will only run from 10:30-11:30am.
Suggested donation: $10 per class
Our programs are open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.
This program is currently full. If you would like to join the wait list, please email programs@smithcenter.org.
Part 1/5. This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom.
You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.
with Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C, Sara Field, LICSW, OSW-C and Kiersten Gallagher
This program is provided thanks to generous funding from The Washington Home and offered in partnership between Smith Center for Healing and the Arts & the Ourisman Breast Center at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
This 5-session program uses evidence-based strategies to help decrease feelings of anxiety and depression and increase a sense of well-being. Each week new tools using cognitive and behavioral approaches and mind/body strategies will be introduced and practiced, therefore weekly attendance is expected.
NOTE: *Open to Cancer Patients/Survivors at any stage in their journey and Cancer Caregivers. Participants are encouraged to attend all 5 sessions to get the most out of the program. Before registering, be sure that you can commit to attending at least 4 of the 5 sessions.
Mind Over Matter* will be offered as a program series Weekly on Wednesdays from February 7th – March 6th, 2023, from 3:00 – 4:30pm ET via Zoom.
Program Dates:
- February 7, 14, 21, 28
- March 6
About Erin Price, MSW, LICSW, OSW-C
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 seven-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 Young Survival Coalition, Critical Mass, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the DC Cancer Action Partnership.
About Sara Field, MSW, LICSW, OSW-C
Sara is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in DC and holds an Oncology Social Work certification. She earned her Masters Degree in Social Work at the Catholic University of America in DC and has worked in oncology for over 6 years. Sara currently serves as the Clinical Social Worker and Patient Experience Supervisor at the Ourisman Breast Center at MedStar Georgetown and previously worked at the Lombardi Cancer Center and GW Cancer Center. Sara has a strong interest in the intersection of emotional and physical health and a particular passion for supporting parents with cancer and their kids.
About Kiersten Gallagher
Kiersten has served as the Cancer Support Program Director for Smith Center since 2014. Before coming to Smith Center, she had the privilege to serve individuals and families living with cancer at Wellness House of Annapolis. Kiersten aims to offer programs to reduce stress and help participants to see the world we live in from different perspectives. She thoroughly enjoys teaching yoga and creativity classes at Smith Center and encourages gentle movement and creativity in the healing process. Kiersten is a certified yoga instructor through Yoga Alliance and also has her YCAT (Yoga Therapy in Cancer and Chronic Illness) Professional Certification through the Integral Yoga Academy. She has completed Patient Navigation training through Smith Center’s Institute for Integrative Oncology Navigation and has also completed the Commonweal Healing Circles: Advanced Cancer Support Training. Kiersten is also certified in CLIMB®(Children’s Lives Include Moments of Bravery) a program that aims to build upon the strengths of children and increase his/her ability to cope with stress associated with a parent’s illness. She believes in a holistic approach to healing, human relationships and is grateful for each and every day. Kiersten has also completed the Compassion Cultivation Training – CCT™ an 8-week program, developed at Stanford University, with insights and techniques from psychology, neuroscience, and contemplative practice. In her spare time, you may find Kiersten laughing with friends, cycling, taking art classes, practicing yoga and spending time with her husband Shane, son Liam, and dogs Beans and Pablo.
In order to participate, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.
with Julia Rowland, Ph.D
Hearing the words, ‘there is no evidence of disease,’ may not be fully reassuring when cancer treatment ends. Worry that you may still have cancer (or develop it again!) can be overwhelming. Fear of cancer recurrence is the most common long-term effect of living with a history of cancer. If this is true for you, you are not alone. Come learn about the triggers of fear, and simple tools you can use to tame your own worry demon and reclaim your plans for the future. This program is offered in partnership with the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.
About Julia H. Rowland, Ph.D.
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.
with M’Bahlia Colson and Rachel Ress, LICSW
This group is for previvors who have an elevated predisposition for a cancer diagnosis or those who have tested positive to cancer genetic markers, such as the BRCA gene.
Having a predisposition to cancer can be an overwhelming experience and one that is often isolating. As a previvor, one often goes through emotional, physical, and mental hardships.
This group offers a safe space for community where you can talk openly with others who also identify as previvors.
Beginning in September, the Previvor Support Group will meet Monthly on the 4th Tuesday of the month from 6:30 – 7:30pm ET.
About M’Bahlia Colson
M’bahlia is a mother, educator and a previvor. Her mom died from breast cancer and dad from prostate cancer. After two breast lumptectomies she was diagnosed with a high expentancy of developing breast cancer. She underwent a prophylatic bilateral mastectomy during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic in NYC. To her disbelief, the hospital did not offer any support for women to help navigate this “new” life. Upon returning home to Washington, DC for reconstruction again no community for support, safe space and sharing.
As an educator and administrator for more than 15 years, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Master’s Degree in Education. M’bahlia applies her research and education background to provide resources to her new community to help them make informed decisions and accesss to support groups.
About Rachel Ress, LICSW
Rachel is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker serving as Cancer Support Community Washington DC’s (CSC DC) Community Navigator. Prior to working at CSC DC, Rachel was an oncology social worker with the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital for three years. She earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice where she interned at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Rachel uses an eclectic approach in providing support and compassion to cancer patients and their families, and she is passionate about the intersection of chronic illness and mental health.
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 Kevin Mutschler
in partnership with Tigerlily Foundation
*Please note that by registering for this program, you consent to have your name and email shared with Tigerlily Foundation. Tigerlily only collects this information for data purposes and it will not be shared with any other parties.
This is an all levels introduction to the practice of Qigong. You will learn about the human energy system, also known as the subtle body.
In the tradition of Qigong, we will learn practices to shape and sculpt this system for our highest good in 3 ways:
- Purge or clear stagnant energy
- Tone or nourish energy to replenish our internal resources
- Regulate our energy system
Our practice will include discussion and movement in addition to an energetic transmission and meditation.
Qigong will be hosted Bi-Monthly on Wednesdays from 7:00 – 8:00pm ET.
About Kevin Mutschler, L.AC.
Kevin is a board-certified acupuncturist (NCCAOM) and Qigong educator with over twenty-five years experience in healing arts practice, research and education, including work in medical anthropology, somatic therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Kevin has special interests in working with patients living with chronic illness, migraine, MS and cancer. He is a Smith Center fellow in Integrative Cancer Care Navigation and is a member of the Society for Integrative Oncology.