Cancer Lifeline’s Facilitators Retreat

A gathering of the majority of our support group facilitators was held on July 22. This group photo was taken to commemorate the event.

Pictured, left to right, top row to bottom row:

Denise Krouse, EvergreenHealth Living with Metastatic Cancer Support Group

Pamela Krueger, Cancer Lifeline Clinical Program Administrator

Ada Pang, EvergreenHealth Breast Friends Support Group

Trenecsia Wilson, Valley Medical Hope in Your Heart & Survivorship Groups

Basha Brownstein, UWNW Women’s Group & Living with Cancer Group

Vivian Foxx, UWNW Living with Metastatic Cancer & Lymphedema Groups

Courtney Zier, Virginia Mason Living with Cancer & Dorothy O’Brien Young Adult

Caregiver Groups

Grace Yang, Dorothy O’Brien Young Adult Cancer Support Group

Keri McLerran, Virginia Mason Federal Way Living with Cancer Support Group

Brenda Joy, EvergreenHealth Gastrointestinal Cancers Support Group

Dianne Graham, EvergreenHealth Bosom Buddies & Overlake Living with Cancer Groups

Tricia Matteson, EvergreenHealth Living with Cancer & Oral, Head and Neck Cancer

Support Groups and UW Valley Women’s Cancer Support Group

Not Pictured but Present: Sandi Johnson, EvergreenHealth Lung Cancer Support Group

We spent the afternoon and early evening together, connecting to one another and sharing about the experience of facilitating the many support groups Cancer Lifeline offers (all groups are currently online).

Our agenda included; a warm-in round of self-introductions, small group breakouts about how facilitating support groups have affected each of us, several renewal practices to support the well-being of our facilitators (guided meditation, nervous system reset sequence, journaling, independent nature walk), a teach-in about the latest developments in psychological science related to support groups, and a discussion plenary about shared topics of interest. We shared a meal in the middle and supported one another as professional colleagues. Each of our support group facilitators is an amazing member of our Cancer Lifeline community and getting to experience natural connections together made for an inspiring experience. We hope to offer connecting retreats to nourish our support group facilitators on a regular, ongoing basis.

Learn more about our 27 cancer support groups. You can also contact us at (206) 832-1271 or through our Lifeline (800) 255-5505 or (206) 297-2500 (Monday – Friday 9 am-5 pm PST) and we’ll connect you to a group.