Therapies & Groups
Complementary Therapies
With over 50 fully trained and insured therapists, Cancer Wellness Support provides our member clients and their families/carers with a large range of subsidised therapies including Acupuncture, Bowen Therapy, Counselling, Lymphoedema Management, Massage, Naturopathy, Reflexology and Reiki.
Cancer treatment can be enhanced by the use of natural therapies. Therapies may assist in managing the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy through reducing the severity of symptoms and promoting self care and relaxation.
Groups & Programs
Held on a regular basis for clients and their carers, each group is facilitated by a qualified practitioner, counsellor and/or registered nurse. All members are welcome to attend any of the Support Groups.
Click the tabs below to explore.
Expressive Arts Therapy Expressive Arts Therapy is the therapeutic use of art within a professional relationship and works across health & medical fields. Art therapy is rapidly gaining popularity for people who are experiencing illness or trauma, and be people who are interested in personal development. Creating art and reflecting on the experience lets people find:
- an increased sense of awareness of self and others
- cope more easily with symptoms, stress & traumatic experiences
- enhance cognitive abilities
- enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of being creative and having fun
- currently living with or have had any kind of cancer
- caring for someone with cancer
- finished intensive treatment
Counselling Cancer can be an unfamiliar and uncharted territory for a person and for their family and friends. Counselling allows for the exploration of problems and emotions in a safe, objective environment. It can be helpful in improving self-esteem, communication, relationships, decision making and emotional healing. A counsellor’s task is to provide a non-judgmental ‘listening’ space, to allow you to explore and make sense of your thoughts and feelings. And of course, all counselling is completely confidential.
Hypnosis Hypnosis is an effective tool in cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery. It has been consistently shown to improve clinical outcomes. The vast majority of cancer patients will undergo surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy which may be accompanied by pain, nausea, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Hypnosis has a powerful place in your healing journey as it sustains you at times of pain, fear and stress.
Mindfulness Meditation Research shows that regular mindfulness practice is effective in reducing stress and thereby improving immune function and health outcomes. It also results in improved mental function and reduced levels of anxiety, depression and chronic pain. Group sessions are held at both Cancer Wellness Support centres.
- Mindfulness Fundamentals: paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindful awareness of the body.
- Perception & Creative Responding: it's not the stressors themselves, but how you handle them, which determines their effect.
- There is pleasure & power in being present: attitudinal foundations, the nature of what we think is real, and understanding our responses to pleasant and unpleasant experience.
- What is Stress? A little neurophysiology. Using mindfulness to reduce the negative effects of stress reactivity.
- Mindfulness of thoughts & emotions: Stuckness, conditioned reactions and escapes -v- mindful responses.
- Mindfulness in everyday life: Interpersonal mindfulness, staying present under stressful conditions.
- Mindfulness in everyday life: Making conscious choices, trying new perspectives.
- Review, keeping up the practice, where to from here.
Metastatic Group Cancer is now a story of living with a chronic disease rather than an acute short term illness. A return of cancer can be, at times, a very fearful event, there is often many different medical approaches to consider and time out from the stress of trying to make new decisions is important. This group is only for people with a metastatic diagnosis so there is a wealth of support with in this group.
Retreats There are opportunities to attend live in retreats which focus on different areas of mind, body and spirit care. You may choose a particular themed workshops which best meets your needs at the time, and then pack your bags for some time away to focus, reflect, explore and rest. We have a relationship with two major leaders in complementary therapies, Gawler Foundation Victoria and Quest for Life NSW.
Workshops Workshops give you an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of a particular issue you may be experiencing. These workshops may be delivered by one of our therapists who specialised in the issue and/or by an invited guest who is a leader is this field. Workshops can be a mix of one day or two day events and are often delivered from our centres.
Events These are times of fun and relaxation with the idea of giving you time out from your normal days of appointments. They can be held at our centres, opportunity shops or other venues but at all times the focus is on time out, getting back to being a part of the world outside medical and therapy appointments.
Acupuncture A traditional form of Chinese medicine in which fine sterile needles are inserted into points along the energy channels in the body to re-balance energy. Acupuncture may address both the symptoms of various cancers as well as the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Bowen Therapy
Kinesiology Is a form of therapy that uses muscle monitoring (biofeedback) to look at imbalances that may be causing disease in the body. Kinesiology aims to detect and correct imbalances that may relate to stress, nutrition or minor injuries.
Lymphoedema Management Lymphoedema can occur when lymph nodes are removed by surgery or damaged by radiotherapy. Early attention to the risk can help to avoid the condition. There is no cure for diagnosed lymphoedema, but a whole of body and mind approach supports lymphoedema care. A combination of diet, massage, meditation, breathwork and exercise, along with measuring of the affected part by the Sozo machine, compressive bandaging, including specific drainage techniques, compressive bandaging and garment fitting. Only specialist lymphoedema massage therapist deliver this service.
Oncology Massage This form of massage is specific to people experiencing cancer and must be delivered by by qualified therapists. Massage can reduce muscular tension, pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression and nausea. Oncology trained therapists provide the expert safe and gentle touch needed for clients during and after treatment.
Nutrition/Naturopathy Naturopaths can offer specific nutritional advice regarding diet and supplementation before and after cancer treatment to maximise recovery and improve outcomes. Diet and nutritional supplements can be extremely helpful in managing symptoms of disease and of treatments, specifically fatigue, stress, digestive upset and lowered immunity.
Reflexology Reflexology is the application of pressure, stretching and movement to the feet and hands to trigger healing in corresponding parts of the body. It complements conventional cancer treatment by relaxing the body and reducing stress. It is especially effective for clients with post treatment neuropathy.
Reiki Is a safe, natural and simple method of promoting wellbeing benefiting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energies. Clients often find that Reiki relieves pain, anxiety, nausea and fatigue. Reiki may also support recovery from surgery and reduce side effects of treatment.
Gentle Yoga
Yoga therapists design and combine gentle movements with specialised breath techniques to relax and calm both the body and mind, lower heart rate and blood pressure. The poses can be altered to suit you and your needs – there’s no tying yourself into pretzels. Relaxation is an important part of yoga and all the classes will include a relaxation period.
Over the past decade more and more studies have shown the benefits of yoga. Here’s 4 fabulous reasons why you might like to try therapeutic yoga:
- Improves sleep - Research has found yoga to help improve sleep quality, efficiency, and duration
- Lowers fatigue - A comprehensive study showed that there was 57% decreased fatigue, and up to 20% decreased inflammation in breast cancer patients, 6 months after the study began
- Promotes relaxation and helps manage stress - regular yoga practice lowers cortisol (the “stress hormone”) levels and blood pressure, and increases serotonin and endorphin production
- Promotes circulation and the flow of lymph - Australian research has shown how yoga movements and breathing promote the flow of lymph, and can even be used to help manage lymphoedema.
Our teacher Helen Laird has over 12 years experience in therapeutic yoga and specialist training from Australia’s leading Yoga for Lymphoedema researcher. Classes combine gentle movement with breathing and are tailored to your needs. For more information please call Helen on 0404 180 481.
Gentle Movement & Stretching
A gentle class that will mobilise all your major joints, lightly stretch your large muscle groups plus give you peaceful thoughts through a meditation phase. All movements can be done in a chair. No special clothes, equipment or anything needed.
A gentle class will mobilise all your major joints, lightly stretch your large muscle groups plus give you peaceful thoughts by doing a short meditation too!
Music will help us flow, spiral and stretch – all of the movements can be done in a chair & about half the class will be supported movement while seating. (your music requests are most welcome).
The goal of the class is to feel fabulous!
No special clothes, equipment or anything needed. This class is open to all fitness levels, all levels of health, all ages. You will be comfortable, the moves will be easy to follow, you can do as much or as little as suits you. If there are people looking to be more energetic – we can accommodate that too.
Qi Gong
Qi Gong is a mind-body approach developed over 5000 years ago. Increasingly, this ancient practice, well known in China, is being used in the West as a way to develop health and wellbeing in the general population. It uses physical activity and meditation to harmonise the body, mind and spirit (Oh, Butow, Mullen, Clarke, Pavlakis, Kothe, Lam and Rosenthal, 2010).
Almost anyone can learn to practice Qigong because it is a simple and easy exercise. The word Qigong is a combination of two concepts - qi is the vital energy of the body and gong is the skill of working with the qi. Medical qigong for health and healing consists primarily of meditation, physical movements and breathing exercises. (Sancier, 2006).
Weekly Qigong sessions at Cancer Wellness Support involve a 10 minute discussion reporting on participants’ practice during the week; 10 minutes breathing and mindfulness meditation practice, either sitting or standing; 30 minutes gentle stretching and Qigong exercises in standing posture to stimulate the energy channels; 20 minutes serenity visualisation, mindfulness meditation practice or viewing an excerpt from a DVD demonstrating Qigong; 10 minutes closure discussion.
Wise Moves (Feldenkrais Method)
The Feldenkrais Method helps to improve posture, movement, coordination and manage pain by teaching you to move in a way that is optimal for you as an individual: with more comfort, ease and pleasure. Group sessions provide an optimal learning environment, where you learn at your own pace, in your own time, exploring gentle novel movements with awareness. Discover and open yourself to new ways of moving!
A safe place is the counselling space
Who is it I can sit with and share what is going on in my mind, in my life, in the lives of those I love or those who just might enter my world for a time and yet somehow rattle the core of me?
I wouldn’t know where to begin and anyway what would they think of me?
Could I really tell a stranger what I think and feel?
Many questions can go through our minds when we feel we want to talk about a problem or issue in our lives. Interestingly, we begin to focus on the fear driving our questions rather than recognising that talking to a stranger, at least a qualified stranger just might be a step in the right direction.
Counselling is talking.
With the development of neuro-science we are better able to understand how the brain works which has given us a scientific framework on which to hang, what has been known for years in the profession, that talking opens up new neural pathways in the brain. Talking therapy works.
The new pathways enable us to step out of the well-worn tracks in our brain and begin to develop different ways of thinking. Imagine a dirt road with deep tyre tracks dug into the surface you can’t help but get your tyres stuck in the grooves. Your old pathways are just like those grooves in the dirt road, you can’t help but get stuck in your old thoughts and feelings.
Talking therapy gives you time to create new ways of viewing your inner and outer world.
Counselling is confidential.
Once in the room with your counsellor, take a deep breath, breath out and relax. You can relax because your time with your counsellor is confidential. Knowing everything you share in the space remains just there. It is safe to share.
Counselling is skilled listening
Where to begin is never a problem. You are simply telling your story to a person who is trained in the art of listening. What a gift. To know you can take as much time as necessary to share your story, to be heard and most all, to be heard without judgement. You and the counsellor work together exploring the meaning you place on your story.
Financial Peace of Mind
We have a commitment to you to ensure our therapies are not only effective health choices but they are affordable. We subsidise both your individual, group therapies and retreats with income raised from our opportunity shops located in Katoomba and Penrith. We ensure that finances will not impact on your access to wellbeing.
Individual therapies $35
Group therapies $5