As a cancer survivor and art therapist, I feel that workshops offer incredible value. We come together to learn about the psychology of cancer, to experience tools that will support your health and healing, and find strength in connecting with one another. Each workshop includes handouts that will help you continue practicing and learning at home.
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Listed below are the fully developed workshops that have been facilitated to date. If you are interested in hosting, promoting, or contracting me to design or offer one of the workshops, please email: [email protected].
Caring Connections, a cooperative program of the Bangor Region YMCA and Eastern Maine Medical Center, provides support to those who have been diagnosed with cancer. Creative Transformations has provided two workshops for us at these events. The first, a small group session at our 2017 Breast Cancer Survivors Retreat gave the women an opportunity to explore their feelings around their diagnosis and resiliency through art. This workshop received a great deal of positive feedback about Stephanie and this unique opportunity to explore deeper feelings they might typically bury in day to day life.
Robin long, Program manager, Caring connections
At our 2018 winter retreat Stephanie led a two-hour group discussion to over 35 survivors and their supporters. This was a wonderfully interactive and energetic session. Stephanie’s openness about her own life experiences coupled with her ability to affirm the experiences of others allowed those in attendance to feel safe to open up about their fears and frustrations surrounding their own diagnoses.
During the two hours she hit on many issues that are so critical to quality of life after a cancer diagnosis. Her presentation and the level of sharing and engagement of those in attendance exceeded my expectations by far. I would highly recommend Creative Transformation to anyone who provides cancer support.
Back to Life, Back to Reality: Decoding Cancer Survivorship
Many cancer survivors find themselves asking “Now what?” when active cancer treatment, with its clear goals and targeted outcomes, ends. The needs of survivorship are vast and unique to each individual and not always neatly laid out in a tangible, clear way. The tasks of survivorship involve emotionally healing the body, mind, spirit, and self. Join us in this discussion of the why and how, and come away with tools for addressing your own unique needs.
Building Resiliency
Improve your health and healing during and after cancer treatment by building resiliency. Being resilient during and after treatment helps us to manage stress and improve our wellness. Come and learn how you can improve your resiliency in this experiential workshop that will offer specific techniques and resources for replicating at home.
SCANxiety: Taming the Beast through Art Therapy
SCANxiety is the term used to describe the overpowering thoughts, feelings, and sensations associated with diagnostic tests following a cancer diagnosis. Even though it involves anxiety, in reality scanxiety is PTSD in action. This workshop will help you understand exactly what is happening to allow you to respond to scanxiety with more ease. We will harness the power of art to “tame the beast”. This type of art making doesn’t require creative talent to benefit from the practice. Everyone can do it, and Stephanie will be there to guide you through.
Mapping out Your Emotional Recovery from Cancer
Do you find yourself struggling as you navigate the stormy waters that come with cancer? Cancer is more than just a medical problem, yet the emotional and mental aspect of the illness often fall to the wayside as the treatment demands are high. This workshop will explore the fundamentals you need to map out your emotional recovery in an attainable and sustainable way.
Take Home Tools: Creative Coping and Expression
As we know, cancer is more than just a medical problem, it impacts your body, mind, spirit and self. This hands on, experiential workshop will help you find ways to explore and express your experience onto paper using basic art supplies. You will leave understanding why art is such a powerful tool for healing AND you will walk away with practical suggestions for using creativity for coping. No artistic talent required to benefit from this practice!
Loving Yourself from the Inside Out
Cancer totally disrupts your relationship with your body, often it feels like a betrayal that your body allowed it to grow in the first place. Learning to love yourself from the inside out practices the art of acceptance. In this art therapy workshop, we will create a metta meditation practice at the cellular level to send a little love to the vessel that keeps us here on the physical plane. No artistic talent necessary to benefit from this practice!
Telling Your Cancer Story through Art
Art therapy is a highly effective tool that anyone can use to help process the complexity of cancer treatment. This workshop is a HOW-TO use art to emotionally heal from cancer. Through storytelling, experiential exercises and engagement, participants will come away with tools they can use at home. No art skills required to benefit from the experience- just an open mind and desire to feel better.
Radical Acceptance of Body and Self
Cancer treatment often deeply impacts women’s body image, identity, and intimacy with ourselves and others. This workshop seeks to help women reclaim their connection through understanding what is happening psychologically, learning about the tools of radical acceptance, and being lead through a guided meditation/art experience that can set the foundation for healing the body image and identity.
