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Martin Auslander wrote:
My Dear Family, All morning I have been calling and doing some research. This is one of the areas that I have personally contacted by phone and they suggested I look at their website, which I have perused and you may find this to be of interest as well. One of the reasons why I am sending this to you is I am seeking your help and advising what your thoughts are, and pls be very frank and open. I am trying to find the right combination for Barb as well as you and I respect your opinion and suggestions. You won't hurt my feelings what so ever as I have not made a commitment to them and am just in the exploratory stage of learning. \\ So your thoughts are quite respected and admired. Thank you. In the meantime I have been searching other therapies and clinics and we have a scheduled appointment in Mexico next Tues for a consultation with Oasis. Will keep you posted and we have not made a commitment there either. There are other areas which I am investigating, for example I have a contact with the NCI for a new vaccine therapy. Will keep you posted when I talk with the co-ordinator. This was recommenced to us by Bonnie Cohn, a long time friend whom we met on the Ovarian discussion forum. Also investigating hyperthermia clinic in Los Angeles called the VAlley Cancer Institute Hyperthermia Holistic Center. I will be making an appointment for consultation there as well. This was recommended by Jeanne Kissinger one of our Medical On Line Members NOw there are other leads that I have and will keep you posted. Again your thoughts each time I send these leads to you will be quite appreciative. God Bless, marty http://www.commonweal.org/cchp.html
THE COMMONWEAL CANCER HELP PROGRAM
Search for key words, phrases, or concepts.Dear Friend:
Thank you for your interest in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. We very much hope that we can be of help to you, either by helping you get access to books and resources near home that may assist you, or by helping you decide whether to join a Cancer Help Program retreat or one of the increasing number of programs inspired, in part or in whole, by the cancer help program that are developing around the United States.
The Commonweal Cancer Help Program (CCHP) is dedicated to helping people seeking physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in the face of cancer. The workshops offer a rich variety of opportunities for both intellectual and experiential learning. The CCHP is not a cancer therapy or treatment program. It is a place to explore the issues, choices, feelings and concerns that people with cancer often have, in the company of others, with an experienced and concerned staff.
Almost all participants in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program report highly positive experiences. Some people come to learn about informed choices in conventional and complementary cancer therapies. Others look forward to yoga, progressive deep relaxation, meditation and imagery. Some seek the companionship of others facing cancer and the deep sharing of experiences that takes place in the morning sessions. Others appreciate the delicious vegetarian diet and caring massage. Using art, poetry, dreams and sandtrays as practical and vivid approaches to self-exploration is surprisingly beneficial. Many participants report that they got the most benefit from experiences in the program that were entirely unexpected.
When my father developed cancer 15 years ago, I began my study of complementary (alternative and adjunctive) cancer therapies to see if any of them had something to offer him. I visited over 30 clinics in Europe and North America, talked with hundreds of physicians and health professionals knowledgeable about these therapies, and interviewed over a thousand patients. Later, I extended my investigation to explore options in established cancer therapies as well. In 1988-90, I served as special consultant to a landmark study Unconventional Cancer Treatments prepared and published by the Office of Technology Assessment of the United States Congress. In 1994, I published Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer [MIT Press, $17.50]. It received a warm welcome in the mainstream press, the medical journals, and in holistic health journals as well.
During the Commonweal Cancer Help Program retreats, we critically review the whole range of choices in established and complementary therapies as objectively as possible. Participants may use our extensive cancer library, audio/video collection, and our research files on a wide variety of therapies and cancers.
Having said this about the opportunities to gather information on choice in cancer therapies, I should add that for most participants the experiential dimensions of the program turn out to be as important, and frequently more important, than learning about the process of informed choice.
Over the past ten years, the Commonweal Cancer Help Program has become widely known. The program has received national attention in The New York Times Magazine, American Health, Medical Self-Care, Advances, and other publications as one of the leading residential cancer support programs in the United States. The Commonweal Cancer Help Program was filmed by television journalist Bill Moyers and film maker David Grubin for an hour-long documentary called "Wounded Healers," as one part of the award-winning PBS series "Healing and the Mind." The Commonweal Cancer Help Program has also received strong support from oncologists, psychotherapists, and other health professionals.
One result of this widespread awareness of the Cancer Help Program is that we often have a considerable waiting list of people who would like to participate. Because we only take eight or nine people on each retreat (the ideal number for small group work), and conduct only six week-long retreats each year, it became an ethical imperative for us to help other centers to start their own versions of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. There are now a number of these programs across the United States. Staff from many of these programs have participated in professional training programs at Commonweal, and we have heard good things about the experience of participants who attend these programs. While we do not supervise these programs, we do strongly encourage you to enquire about them. They usually have no waiting lists, so you may get into one of their retreats rapidly. Please remember: Our goal is not to get you to come to Commonweal. It is to help you find what you need!
We have found that the Commonweal Cancer Help Program retreats work best for the people who (1) have a real interest in making a sustained personal effort to engage with their illness, (2) have the personal maturity to work well in a small workshop setting, and (3) believe they would benefit from a week of yoga, group support, relaxation, meditation, imagery, massage, and exploration of options in established and complementary cancer therapies. The morning sessions, led by the psychologically trained co-leader in each workshop, are a central part of the program, and provide opportunities for deep self-exploration and sharing. All participants must be under the care of an oncologist or other allopathic (conventional) physician, able to care for themselves in Commonweal's rural environment, and currently well enough to benefit from the program. We do not provide medical care during the retreat.
The daily schedule is as follows: morning yoga and meditation, breakfast, morning class, deep relaxation and imagery, lunch, individual activities, afternoon yoga and meditation, dinner and evening program. During individual activities, each participant has three one-hour massage sessions available and one or two one-hour sessions with sand trays. There is also time available for consultations with the staff. We ask participants in the program not to leave the site during the week unless medically required to do so, not to invite friends for visits, nor to make extensive use of the telephone. We do not have newspapers or television available.
The all-inclusive basic fee for the workshop is $1480 per person. We should add that we make no money on these retreats -- the fee is in fact supplemented by support from participants who have come before and other friends who help us keep the price as reasonable as possible. Each workshop is limited to eight participants. Spouses and other close support people are welcome to enroll, at the same fee and with the same full program as other participants. Full or (more often) partial scholarship assistance is available on a limited basis for those for whom the fee is a barrier to participation.
Upcoming retreat dates are as follows: (All program dates are waiting list only)
Dates
1998
September 14 - 20
October 19 - 25
November 30 - December 61999
February 15 - 21
April 26 - May 2
June 7 - 13
September 13 - 19
October 18 - 24
December 6 - 12If you would like more information about the program or would like to apply, please call Waz Thomas, Program Coordinator. Waz will discuss all details of the program as well as the specifics of the application process. You may receive an application only after a telephone interview with him. Unfortunately, the CCHP has a substantial waiting list. It often takes nine months to be able to come to a CCHP retreat. Fortunately, there are a number of other programs across the country based on CCHP principles. We encourage you to explore these programs and what they offer with care.
Commonweal is located on the MCI transmitter site in the Point Reyes National Seashore, near the small coastal town of Bolinas, California, one hour north of San Francisco. Pacific House, the beautiful eleven-bedroom guest house where participants stay, overlooks a spectacular coastline and a beautiful isolated beach. We are surrounded by 1,000 acres of National Park Service land, with 10 buildings and an organic garden on the site. Site tours are by appointment only.
The Commonweal Cancer Help Program is supported to a large extent by personal contributions. This helps us keep the cost for people with cancer as low as possible, and enables us to provide some scholarships. We need and welcome support for the CCHP Scholarship Fund. Contributions may be sent to the CCHP Scholarship Fund, Box 316, Bolinas, California 94924
We thank you for your interest in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program.
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