By Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund
Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund (TDJBCF) partnered for an evening of healing on Wednesday, July 17. The evening, hosted via Zoom and live streamed via Facebook Live, offered information on the stress and anxiety that comes with a cancer diagnosis and tools to help create a mental wellness plan.
Smith Center Executive Director Lisa Simms Booth said, “We are thrilled that our annual tradition of joining our friend Thelma D. Jones and the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund continued for the sixth year. This year’s convening aligned perfectly with our guiding mission of supporting the whole person on their cancer journey. We believe that taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as one’s physical health.”
The evening featured Erin Price, Smith Center’s Young Adult & Psychosocial Support Program Director. The presentation began with an overview of topics for discussion – the normal responses to a cancer diagnosis, the stress response, ways to cope, and building your coping plan.
Following the discussion of agenda, Price led a robust presentation about the definition of stress, the difference between stress and emotions, and the connection between the mind and body.
Price said to the group, “There is not one way to handle a cancer diagnosis. It is different for each person.” She then surveyed the group about how they handle stress and led them through a breathing/mindfulness exercise. The presentation continued by laying out coping skills and strategies for easing stress. At the end of the presentation, Price led a discussion of how to create your own mental wellness plan by asking attendees to write down the following: three stressors, three warning signs of mental distress, three self-care activities, three coping strategies to manage problems, and three people to call in times of stress and anxiety.
At the end of the presentation, the presenters shared about how to get support in applying these practices by utilizing programs offered by Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, as well as ways to find professional help. To bring this powerful program to the community residents in Southwest, a workshop in the spring is currently being planned by Smith Center and the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund. For more information on Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and its programs, please visit www.smithcenter.org or call (202) 483-8600. For more information on the next meeting of the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund, please visit www. tdjbreastcancerfund.org, email thelma@ tdjbreastcancerfund.org or call (202) 251-1639. For more information about Cancer Choices, please visit www.cancerchoices.org.