The Art of Healing
A Creative Space to Relax and Rediscover the Joy of Living Fully.
A unique approach to navigating cancer that blends relaxation, creative expression, and conversation so that you can interrupt the constant stress of cancer and reconnect with yourself.
START PARTICIPATING IN YOUR WELL BEING
âThis simple act of creative autonomy restored a sense of personal power I desperately needed.â
-Â Kristen V.
 Youâre in the Right Place
If Youâve Ever Thought to Yourself...
âIâm tired of being âthe patient.ââ
I want to be seen as a whole person not just a diagnosis.
âI need a break from cancer.â
Iâm tired of the scans, treatments, appointments, and hospitals. I need a break from it all, a place to relax, have some fun, and feel like myself again.
âI want to be around people who get it.â
No explaining. No pretending. No forced positivity.
âI want more creativity and joy in my life.â
Something I can turn to during waiting rooms, treatments, or whenever I need a break from cancer.
If this sounds like you...
Welcome to The Art of Navigating CancerÂ
My Your creative sanctuary, a place to put your burdens down, nurture your well-being, and rediscover the joy of living fully, despite the challenges of cancer.Â
Why this approach is different?
Cancer can cause your mind to work overtime, analyzing, anticipating, worrying, and trying to control what happens next.
Sometimes talking helps. Sometimes distraction helps.
But there are moments when words simply aren't enough. You can't always âthinkâ your way out of cancer anxiety, and distracting yourself only offers temporary relief.
 Creativity offers a different way.
Instead of staying caught in the cycle of thinking and worrying, creativity invites you into a different stateâone of flow, curiosity, and being present. Your attention moves from what might happen to what you are creating, noticing, and experiencing in the present moment.
After working with hundreds of students, clients, and people navigating cancer, Iâve seen this happen again and again: when you become absorbed in relaxing and creating, you can shift out of the âanxiety spiralâ and into what is known as the âcreativity spiral.â
Thatâs what makes The Art of Navigating Cancer so unique. Blending relaxation, creative expression, and conversation draws your attention away from cancer, it quiets the worry, and creates more room for peace, creativity, and joy.
Why The Art of Navigating Cancer?
My Personal Journey
For more than thirty years, I worked as a professional artist, exhibiting in galleries and teaching hundreds of students. I measured my worth by what I produced. I was a Human Doer rather than a Human Being.
Then my cancer diagnosis stopped everything.
I soon realized that my old approach of working harder, staying busy, and trying to control the outcome was not going to work in this chapter of my life.
I began to understand:
Healing doesnât mean going back to the way things were.
Instead of asking, How do I get my old life back? I began asking, Who am I becoming? How can I learn to live fully in the life I have right now?
These questions changed everything. I began to understand what creativity and living fully meant. Being creative isn't just about what happens on the canvas. It's a way to reconnect with myself and others, find peace and joy within uncertainty, and rediscover the art of living.
My cancer experience inspired me to become a certified life coach with the **International Coaching Federation-**and to explore how the powerful tools of coaching and creativity can support our well-being. Since then, I have created and now facilitate an art and coaching program at UT Southwestern, where I work directly with people navigating cancer.
The Art of Navigating Cancer, my online program, is the culmination of my personal experience, professional coaching, research, and more than three decades as an artist and educator.
Cancer was the pause that taught me that I couldn't control everything in my life, but I could learn to navigate it with greater peace, curiosity, and personal agency.
Now I help others do the same.
What to Expect
A place to exhale, create, and simply be.
Step into a warm, welcoming space where you can put down the weight of cancer for a while and reconnect with yourself.
Create with Freedom: No art skills needed. Iâll guide you to let go of perfection and express yourself through marks and color.
Connect Through Conversation: Share, laugh, or simply listen with people who understand what youâre going through; no explaining, pretending, or forced positivity.
Canât Make It Live? No Problem. Access the replays 24/7;Â from your bed, a waiting room, during treatment, or whenever you need a little space for yourself.
âYou don't have to be good at artâbecause art is good for you.â
BOOK A FREE CALL
Why Creativity Can Quiet the âAnxiety Spiralâ of Cancer
Cancer can keep your mind and body on high alert, tense and fearful about scans, treatment and worried about what comes next.
Combining creativity with relaxation gives you permission to paint, draw, and express yourself without pressure, perfection, or the need to push your worries aside. This safe space for expression can help us process our fears and interrupt the constant tension and anxiety .
This is not your typical art class. We don't care about making a pretty picture or holding the perfect meditation pose. It's about coming back to a place of calm, release, and new possibilities for your lifeâno matter the chapter you're in.
One client captured this beautifully:
âToday I had three scans, baked two loaves of bread, and made art that I hung in my house. I don't understand how, how can I be dying when... I am fully living!ââ Bill
The Four Pillars of This Creative Approach
Create:
Doodle, paint, and experiment with color. Even messy, âimperfectâ art lowers your cortisol levels and gives your mind something new to focus on. Iâll guide you every step of the way.
Relax:
Breathing, relaxation, and guided meditations give your mind and body a moment to release, dream, and feel more grounded and present.
Reflect:Â
Through compassionate listening, journaling, colors, and words, we pause and reconnect with what we're feeling and what we need.
Integrate:
Bring these practices into your everyday life. Choose small creative and restorative activities that bring a little more light and joy into your day.
Together, these simple practices move your attention away from fear and toward calm, curiosity, and an appreciation of the joy that exists in the present moment.
We move from an âanxiety spiralâ into a âcreativity spiral.â
Neuroplasticity is your brain's ability to build new patterns through repeated experienceâthese practices can strengthen new and calmer pathways of attention and response to stressful situations.
The path of worry may still be there, but it doesn't have to be the only path.
We create more room for peace, curiosity, creativity, and joyâeven while navigating cancer.
JOIN THE ART OF NAVIGATING CANCERWhat Participants Are Saying âŚ
âWhen the word âcancerâ entered my life, it felt like the world stopped... I felt disconnected from myself and overwhelmed by fear. During our art sessions, I was in charge. I chose the colors; I determined the shapes; I made the decisions. This simple act of creative autonomy restored a sense of personal power I desperately needed... It was where I learned to breathe again. It helped me navigate the darkness and find my way back to the light.â
â Kristen V.
âSpending time with other survivors, being intentional about setting aside the time to create, has been liberating, therapeutic, and healing.â
â Jean H.
âI left the first session with an overpowering sense of belonging.â
â Christina T.
