“The Healing Journey program at Wellspring changed my life. Cancer no longer consumes me. I’ve learned to enjoy the days I have, the people I love, and the life that I live.”

E.T. Wellspring member

What you can do to help yourself heal from cancer

When cancer strikes us or our loved ones, it can be one of the most frightening experiences of our lives. More and more people are seeking ways they can help themselves cope and live well with cancer, in addition to receiving medical treatment.

The Healing Journey is a program for people who want to learn how to help themselves when they have cancer. It is a practical course, providing simple but proven psychological and spiritual tools which promote inner harmony, peace and healing, methods that can help any of us become a “healed person”.

The benefits of the program include:

• Increased overall well-being and ability to cope
• Increased validation and processing of difficult emotions
• Reduced anxiety and depression
• Increased introspection leading to a heightened understanding of their emotional response to cancer
• Increased sense of control
• Reduced isolation through creation of connections with other patients or caregivers

What the program involves:

The Healing Journey is a multi-level support and coping program. The program includes the following levels:

Level 1:  Coping with Cancer Stress

Coping with Cancer Stress is a four-week program that introduces participants to a range of techniques and ideas and support and coping strategies. It includes both education and instruction on the benefits of support, and provides a sample of techniques proven effective in improving one’s ability to cope and move forward.

Level 2:  Skills for Healing

Skills for Healing is an eight-week program that provides a deeper experience in the practice of support and coping strategies that reduce stress, and includes small group discussion about personal circumstances and needs. Includes demonstration and practice of a variety of stress management and coping skills.

Level 3:  Steps Toward Spiritual Healing

Steps toward Spiritual Healing is an exploration of the impact of cancer on spiritual identity and wellness.

Level 4:  Becoming Authentic

Becoming Authentic focuses on spirituality in the context of healing. While developing further the skills learned in previous levels. A consolidation of the skills learned from previous levels organized along the themes of authenticity, autonomy and acceptance.

Level 5: Moving Forward: A New Earth

Using Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth and reading guide specifically for people coping with cancer, further aspects of spiritual development are explored

Background:

Since 1982, the program has been developed and researched at a large cancer treatment and research centre. Published research on the Healing Journey, together with the research of other scientists, shows that using these methods regularly can significantly diminish anxiety and depression, restore a sense of control, and relieve symptoms like fatigue, nausea, and pain.

There is also some published evidence that when people with advanced cancers get very involved with helping themselves psychologically and spiritually they may live longer than medically predicted. Many factors are involved with these findings, and not all are well understood. Although extended life cannot be guaranteed, ongoing research will hopefully one day shed more light on this possibility.

Additional information:

Sign up for Healing Journey by selecting the location nearest you.

You can access some of Healing Journey online resources here.