This program is being offered in-person. In order to participate, please register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing programs@smithcenter.org
with Chef Kara Garrett
With winter and the holidays rapidly approaching, it is a great time to revamp your menus with delicious items that are easy to prepare and that you can feel good about eating. Join us to learn cooking tips & techniques using cancer-fighting foods to heal from within. Chef Kara will lead you in preparing your meal and we’ll all sit down together to enjoy one of the greatest gifts of food – eating in good company!
Menu items:
- Roasted Fennel & Orange Salad
- Tofu Parmesan with Sautéed Spaghetti Squash
- Mac and “Un”Cheese
- Ultimate Fudge Brownies
*Menu subject to change based on ingredient availability and class size. All recipes will be vegan. Some recipes may contain gluten and/or nuts. Please alert us to any allergies when registering for the class. Every individual’s needs are unique. We aim to offer a variety of health-promoting options for each individual to consider, but do not prescribe the specific dietary content of any program for anyone.
Address:
Smith Center for Healing and the Arts
1632 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Suggested Donation: $15
About Chef Kara Garrett
Kara Garrett is a health-supportive chef based in Washington, DC. Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, she embraced the challenge of finding a balance between her foodie lifestyle and eating well with cancer. Kara is a graduate of the Chef Training Program at Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC, trained under Chef Lillian Chou at The Ananda Ashram Yoga Society of New York, and completed a graduate certificate in Developing Healthy Communities: Nutrition, Behavior, and Physical Activity from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She is passionate about working with others to encourage healthier food choices and develop sustainable food relationships that energize the body and the soul.
This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. Please click <here> to register for this circle.
with Paul Pucinelli & Mark Malinak
Please join us in a series Healing Circles for Grief “to discover the extent and limits of what is lost, what is left and what is possible.” – John Schneider
If you have lost a loved one, this is an opportunity to share what is on your heart and mind right now, to listen and be listened to deeply and generously. Together we create a safe space for listening to messages from our inner experience.
Our healing circles are a safe and supportive space to walk with each other through these times. Each circle is a blend of sharing and silence, compassion, and curiosity. Our agreements ensure acceptance and confidentiality. We honor our own unique paths to healing and respect the choices of others.
Some Assumptions about Grief
- The experience of grief is unique for each individual. While we can make some general assumptions, there is no template that describes the experience for all people.
- Grief is cumulative. That is, each time loss is grieved, the grief encompasses the lifetime of loss and the remnants of each experience.
- Grief following a significant loss is most often a lifelong process, with each pivotal point in life bringing the grief back up to be processed from a new perspective.
- Grief, loss and suffering fundamentally changes and reshapes the individual.
- Grief is not about forgetting or disconnecting. Rather, healthy grief is about remembering the parts of self that get lost amidst the experience and reorienting the individual in their relationship with self, the world and others.
- Grief is a whole body experience: emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual. Each have a wide range of expression which can cue us that grief is present.
- While grief and trauma are often intertwined there are significant differences between them. Trauma should be addressed with trauma specific interventions that often go beyond what is possible in circles.
Adapted from Khris Ford
Grieving Together Healing Circle will meet Weekly on Saturdays from 11:00-12:30pm EST (8:00am-9:30am PST) for 6 weeks.
Grief Circle Dates:
- October 28
- November 4, 11, 18, 25
- December 2
About Paul Puccinelli
Since 2011, Paul has been providing counseling services to children, adults, and couples. Paul received a strong educational foundation from his graduate degree program at Dominican University, as well as advanced training at University of California San Francisco’s School of Medicine, where he completed a program focused on Interprofessional Palliative Care Education. During the last four years, he has developed a special interest in supporting people and caregivers dealing with Parkinson’s Disease. And for the last three years, he has been hosting Grieving Together and Living w/ Cancer healing circles.
About Mark Malinak
Mark is retired, having worked as a substance abuse/mental health counselor and wilderness counselor for 25 years. He lives alone with his yellow lab mix dog Buster in a small post and beam house in western Massachusetts. Mark’s wife Barbara passed away suddenly in October 2019. He loves poetry, writing, and tribal ambient music. Among other hobbies, Mark enjoys hiking and walking in the woods and the forests of the Berkshires.
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.
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.
