Healing is not the absence of hardship.
It is the ability to live with what has happened to us while still remaining open to meaning, connection, possibility, and growth.
How I Support Healing
Healing is hard to define. Each person is responsible for creating their own meaning.
A person can be cured without feeling healed. Another may face an uncertain cancer diagnosis while experiencing profound emotional, spiritual, or personal healing.
For over a decade, I have supported individuals living with cancer and recovering from it. I teach classes at Providence Swedish Cancer Institute, Cancer Lifeline and speak to patient and caregiver groups including at Kaiser Permanente, Overlake Medical Center and Evergreen Hospital. I help people navigate the emotional complexity of illness grief, uncertainty, worry and “what’s next?”
I noticed a gap during my own treatment for stage 3 breast cancer 17 years ago. Not in the medical care— but in what comes after and in between. The space where people are left to navigate what they’ve been through. The space where questions don’t have clear answers. The space where healing is no longer just about the body. I developed several classes for different cancer care centers based on my personal experience. Rarely did I hear the word healing in my cancer journey. This was the gap for me. How am I to heal from this experience and not live in the shadow of it forever.
Healing from cancer is often assumed to be a matter of time. I believe that healing involves going a layer deeper and also means summoning courage and curiosity about who you are after this experience and where you hope to head.
In my work, I am a coach and guide to the art of mindful healing and a philosophy toward practices and healthy perspectives that work not only for recovering from cancer, but for aging as a person.
Each person must find their own healing path. Still, many people with cancer share distrust of their body and life. Patients often ask, “What do I do with this worry and uncertainty?” I listen with care and empathy, helping them decide what to let go, what to keep, and why they feel stuck.
Everything moves in seasons — of illness, of healing, of health, of growth, of rest.