Art Therapy for Breast Cancer

I am so honored that you are taking the time to learn about my work and my heart-centered mission to serve the breast cancer community.

Below I share the details of what I am working towards and how your support can drastically improve the lives of the women around you. After all, if you yourself have not had breast cancer, you've likely known someone who has- perhaps your grandmother, mother, sister, aunt, friend, coworker, neighbor... the list could go on and on.

Despite having been a caregiver at 25 for my mom when her breast cancer metastasized,  it wasn't until I had breast cancer myself that I truly understood the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual crisis that she'd gone through, right up until the end of her life. I was so involved in her care, attentive to her needs, and yet I couldn't truly understand her until I lived through it myself. 

Breast cancer can take everything from you AND it can transform your life. The difference between surviving and thriving lies in working through its traumatic impact. This means not only processing what has happened to you, but also building a method for confronting the profound uncertainty that cancer brings into your life, an uncertainty that persists indefinitely.

I believe that the pandemic has put a spot light on how incredibly difficult it is to live in the face of uncertainty. It taxes your body, mind, spirit, and self and asks you to dig in deep while facing isolation that can be crippling.

When the pandemic hit, the cancer community was very aware of what it takes to confront this challenge head on. We knew what it takes to move forward despite the uncertainty, while holding on to the hope that in the end, we'll be ok. Unlike the pandemic, the uncertainty for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer never ends. This means that now, more than ever, we need a solution.

When women work with me, they find deep comfort in the fact that I've been there. They can let down their protective walls and start to feel safe again. The tools they learn bring in the healing they deserve and the resiliency they need to thrive. 

Here's the information about what I'm doing and why your support means so much to me and the women I serve.

• What is the mission of your company or project?

My mission is to make sure that every woman who's ever been diagnosed with breast cancer has the knowledge, guidance, and tools she needs to heal her body, mind, spirit, and self. As an art therapist and breast cancer survivor myself, I know all too well the hidden costs that come with being diagnosed with this life threatening disease. In fact, I became an art therapist after my mom died from metastatic breast cancer.

• Describe the problem you are solving

Breast cancer is more than a medical problem. It impacts every aspect of your life, your identity, your relationships, your health and wellness. However, most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are left to deal with the effects on their own, because the treatment team’s expertise lies in the medical, not in the mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational realm. One metaphor that resonates is that the medical impact is just the tip of the iceberg, everything else lies beneath the surface and is difficult to see, describe, or even understand.

Between my mother’s first diagnosis and my own, there’s been so many advancements medically. Yet, despite the fact that there are 3.8 million women in the US alone who have lived experience of breast cancer, the system is far from ready to address the unmet psychological needs of the women. It’s left to the survivor to figure that out for herself, with very little guidance even on where or how to begin.

• How many women have been impacted by breast cancer?

In the US, 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2020, according to statistics from BreastCancer.org, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 48,530 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the US. In 2018, more than 2 million cases of breast cancer were diagnosed worldwide. 

• how does your work and this campaign solve the problem? 

I have developed expert content, unique art therapy protocols, and a mentoring process that every woman can use that demystifies the psychological impact of cancer and builds a method for emotional healing. This method not only heals the past, but also provides a foundation for thriving. My expertise supports every woman’s ability to restore her agency, mastery, and capacity to feel beautiful again from the inside out.

I strive to be seen as a thought leader in my field, because I know that my community deserves the opportunity to thrive. Right now I have two projects that have a common challenge, which this crowdfunding campaign will help me manifest.  

The first project is a virtual community on Mighty Networks through Creative Transformations, called Art Therapy for Breast Cancer. It’s a membership program in which I deliver my expertise and then facilitate the active processing and community building. This is very exciting because it’s an incredible opportunity for my work to reach more women than my private practice does. Additionally, doing the work in the community substantially increases the benefit of the members, because they feel seen, heard, and validated PLUS have the opportunity to give and receive support. The progress the women are making in the community would be almost impossible for them to do on their own. The monthly membership fee, $30, has been kept low to accommodate the financial toxicity that many women face post cancer. Eventually I’d like to be able to offer scholarships.

The second, larger scale solution that I’m pursuing is the publishing of the art therapy book I have written. This book guides women, step-by-step, on how to use art therapy to tell the story of how cancer has impacted her body, mind, spirit, and self. The book recognizes that no two breast cancer stories are exactly the same. The reader will pioneer her own healing through selecting the chapters that are relevant to her experience. Again, no special art skills are needed to benefit, the book works for the art therapy novice to the art making muse. 

The book has the opportunity to impact so many more lives. Not only can it be purchased by women who’ve had breast cancer, it can help clinicians be more effective in their treatment and drive programming at cancer wellness centers. 

• Why are you seeking funding & how will it support your work?

I am seeking funding because I’m at the limit of my capacity to grow my business on my own. I’m proud of how far I’ve come since 2016, and I know that if I am truly going to fulfill my mission, I need to expand my audience. My social media platform is not robust enough that a literary agent and publisher will consider my book. My social media platform is also not robust enough to bring in the numbers I need in order to run the community. I have been self funded, running a full time private practice in addition to building Creative Transformations, and I know that it’s not sustainable.

Here are the current needs that I wish to spend the funding on:

-Contracting with a social media expert to provide social media marketing, management, content strategy and creation, SEO and Google Ad words to boost my numbers to at least 5K across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and email list

-Under the guidance of the social media expert, funds to run advertising to increase social media following and visibility, increase the number of women signing up for free/low cost webinars, and conversions from those events into the community

-Secure legal services to do trademark for the book’s name, which is playful and resonant.I want my community and brand to be able to use it (currently undisclosed) to drive excitement and interest for the work I am doing.

-Contract a part time virtual assistant who can do research on potential collaborators and opportunities to give interviews to create awareness, like aligned podcasts that reach my target audience.

-Have funds to attend workshops/seek consultation to improve the pitches and proposals I am writing to literary agents and independent publishers

• Who is on your team?

Right now, it’s just me- I’ve built my website, my community, my platforms, my offerings, my networking, etc. all on my own. My amazing clients, colleagues, collaborators, family, friends, have given me priceless feedback, which I appreciate so much. I know I’m wearing too many hats, and I can't wait to build the connections I need in order to grow.

Thank you so much for supporting my mission and the women who's lives will be forever changed by the work we do together. Your support means the world to us.