This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link for the course, please request an application by emailing programs@smithcenter.org.

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

with Phebe Duff

offered in partnership with Wellness House of Annapolis

This program is being offered virtually over 8 weeks from Thursday, January 18th through March 7th from 4:00-6:30pm ET. The program also includes a mini virtual retreat on Saturday, February 24th from 9:00am-12:00pm. We ask that participants commit to attending all sessions including the mini-retreat. Limited space available.

We are asking participants to contribute toward their participation in this program, however, we do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone in accessing this program. As such, we are encouraging each person to choose to contribute a one-time amount between $25 to $150 that feels comfortable for you based on your own personal income circumstances. If you have any questions, please contact us, we are happy to discuss any additional issues privately.

Are you at a tipping point, overwhelmed by the stress of our fast-paced lives?

Are you experiencing life events affecting your physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing?

Are you just looking for a way to get your life back into balance?

The good news is that you already have the resources you need to come back to health and wellbeing. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training can help you reconnect to those inner resources. Even if you’ve never heard of mindfulness or have never meditated, MBSR can teach you these skills.

This interactive, experiential course runs for 8 weeks and includes:

Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices
Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
Small and large group discussions
Daily home practice assignments
A three-hour mini-retreat of uninterrupted practice on Saturday, October 28

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. MBSR has over 25 years of peer-reviewed research covering a wide variety of physical and mental health issues. It is the most scientifically researched and validated mindfulness program and is used in clinical and non-clinical settings worldwide.

What are the benefits of MBSR?

Mindfulness is the practice of present moment, non-judgmental awareness of one’s life experience. Through the use of mind/body techniques, one begins to relate to the stress and anxiety in life differently in ways that allow for more creative solutions and possibilities.

It can help you:

Improve focus and concentration
Improve mind-body awareness
Reduce reactivity and increase calm
Support better behavioral choices and Improve the ability to handle the ups and downs of life
Feel kinder to yourself and others
Improve relationships
Experience more positive emotions
Start or restart a meditation practice

About Phebe Duff

Phebe Duff is a long-time meditator and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) facilitator. She completed the Community Dharma Leader program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA and the Dharmacharya program offered by the Venerable Pannavati at Heartwood Refuge in Hendersonville, NC. Phebe has facilitated MBSR courses for a wide variety of populations since 2005. Since retiring after a 30+ year career in human resources and as a professional musician, Phebe has taught meditation and MBSR for Wellness House of Annapolis, a cancer support organization providing various kinds of emotional and other support services to people recently diagnosed with cancer or living
with cancer, family members and caregivers of cancer patients and people who have lost a loved one to cancer. Working with the cancer community and sharing the practices of meditation and mindfulness to support their healing journey has been the best experience of her teaching career.

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 Ravenna Raven

in partnership with the Good Listening Project

As a Listener Poet, people trust you to hold space for their stories and emotions. In creating this space, both participants can experience the healing power of listening. The Good Listening Project is a nonprofit that promotes cultures of listening to support wellbeing in healthcare communities. These conversations strengthen the social fabric within healthcare systems, amplify unheard voices, and foster empathy among healthcare professionals. These healing spaces contribute to a connected culture where people care about and support each other, enhancing patient care and the overall healthcare experience.

In this interactive workshop, Listener Poet Ravenna Raven will share tips about her process from starting a conversation with someone you don’t know to creating a poem for them using their words, and will then invite you to try these techniques with someone else in the group. You will be invited to experience and practice deep listening, which can have positive ripple effects, connect with a small group to reflect on your experiences and the themes that emerge from your poems, and support resilience and wellbeing using poetry and conversation as inspiration.

Supplies Needed: Writing utensil and paper, or digital document.

Suggested Donation: $15

About Ravenna Raven

Ravenna Raven works as a Listener Poet at hospitals, healing centers, and national healthcare conferences, and leads The Good Listening Project’s Certified Listener Poet course. Ravenna’s early childhood experiences with first responders, surgeons, and hospice nurses propelled her toward writing as a practice for healing and making meaningful connections with others. She teaches creative writing, reading development, and restorative yoga to students of all ages.

This session has been cancelled.

with Linda Seabright

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.

Mindfulness is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as it was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

Dr. Kabat-Zinn and his program were featured prominently in the award-winning PBS television series Healing and the Mind. The profound effects of this work have begun to be strongly supported by a large body of scientific research.

Specifically, mindfulness helps you access the ability to be non-judgmental, compassionate, patient, present and aware. You wouldn’t have come this far if these qualities did not exist in you somewhere. Possible benefits may be a greater sense of peace and well-being.

We will take a few moments to check into how we’re feeling in the beginning of the meditation and afterward. We’ll sit or lie comfortably and go through a slightly different guided meditation each week. No experience needed.

Being Together Mindfulness meets every other Monday from 12:00pm – 12:30pm ET.

Suggested Donation: $5/session

About Linda Seabright

Linda Seabright

Linda Seabright has been teaching Mindfulness and Meditation since she completed her training in MBSR, or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine in 2016. Linda is a life-long practitioner of yoga, a cancer survivor, and has studied expressive art therapy since 2010. Her passion for artistic and musical expression have inspired her to bring the same dedication to her meditation teachings, bringing a wide array of experience to her practice. She also teaches trauma-based meditation to nonprofits and has developed a series of meditations to help bring peace and balance into people’s lives. More information at www.jazzmeditation.com.

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 Julia Rowland, Ph.D.

This cancer caregiver support group, led by a licensed psychologist, is designed to provide cancer caregivers with the opportunity to meet other caregivers, learn about useful tools for self-care, and explore ways to thrive in the caregiving role.

Julia’s Caregiver Support Group meets Bi-Monthly on Mondays from 6:00 – 7:30pm.

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.

If you would like to join this program, please click the RSVP button above or 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 October 18th – November 15th, 2023, from 3:00 – 4:30pm ET via Zoom.

Program Dates:

October 18 & 25
November 1, 8 & 15

About Erin Price, MSW, 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 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 Field

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 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.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link for the course, please complete the application below. If you have any questions, please email programs@smithcenter.org.

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

with Phebe Duff and Sondra Albert, E-RYT 500

offered in partnership with Wellness House of Annapolis

This program is being offered virtually over 8 weeks from Thursday, September 21 through November 9 from 4:00-6:30pm ET. The program also includes a mini virtual retreat on Saturday, October 28 from 9:00am-12:00pm. We ask that participants commit to attending all sessions including the mini-retreat. Limited space available.

In order to participate please complete the brief application below. If you have questions please email programs@smithcenter.org.

We are asking participants to contribute toward their participation in this program, however, we do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone in accessing this program. As such, we are encouraging each person to choose to contribute a one-time amount between $25 to $150 that feels comfortable for you based on your own personal income circumstances. If you have any questions, please contact us, we are happy to discuss any additional issues privately.

Are you at a tipping point, overwhelmed by the stress of our fast-paced lives?

Are you experiencing life events affecting your physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing?

Are you just looking for a way to get your life back into balance?

This interactive, experiential course runs for 8 weeks and includes:

Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices
Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
Small and large group discussions
Daily home practice assignments
A three-hour mini-retreat of uninterrupted practice on Saturday, October 28

What are the benefits of MBSR?

It can help you:

Improve focus and concentration
Improve mind-body awareness
Reduce reactivity and increase calm
Support better behavioral choices and Improve the ability to handle the ups and downs of life
Feel kinder to yourself and others
Improve relationships
Experience more positive emotions
Start or restart a meditation practice

TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FOR THE COURSE, CLICK <HERE>