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Commonweal Cancer Help Program

Overview | Links | Other Centers | Jenifer Altman Memorial Lectures | PDF Downloads

What is the Commonweal Cancer Help Program?

The Commonweal Cancer Help Program (CCHP) is a week-long retreat for people with cancer. Our goal is to help participants live better and, where possible, longer lives. The Cancer Help Program addresses the unmet needs of people with cancer. These include finding balanced information on choices in healing, mainstream and complementary therapies; exploring emotional and spiritual dimensions of cancer; discovering that illness can sometimes lead to a richer and fuller life; and experiencing genuine community with others facing a cancer diagnosis. [Learn more]

What does the Cancer Help Program offer?

The Cancer Help Program offers an integrated program of healing that includes daily group support sessions led by a psychotherapist, massage, yoga, meditation, deep relaxation, imagery work, symbolic learning through sandtray, poetry, exploration of sacred space, and a gourmet vegetarian diet. Evening sessions led by Commonweal co-founder Michael Lerner explore choices in healing, mainstream therapies, integrative therapies, pain and suffering, and death and dying.

Widely considered the premier program of its kind in the United States, the CCHP draws participants from across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Should I apply?

The Cancer Help Program is for people at any stage in the cancer journey and their significant others. It provides an exceptionally high quality opportunity to explore the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions of healing with cancer. The retreats are limited to eight or nine participants. The CCHP works best for people who understand what the retreats are and believe they would benefit from participating. They also work best for people who are comfortable in small group settings and are curious about the healing process. The Cancer Help Program is an educational program, not a treatment program. Participants must be under the care of a physician, able to care for themselves, able to participate in the daily program, and sufficiently medically stable to spend a week in a rural retreat setting.

What do former participants say about the Cancer Help Program?

Most CCHP participants find the Cancer Help Program has a powerful and lasting positive effect on their lives. After more than 120 retreats over the past nineteen years, we have learned that the Cancer Help Program has profound effects on anxiety, fear, loneliness, helplessness and other psychological conditions that often accompany cancer. Many participants come to the Cancer Help Program with questions about next steps in treatment or in living with a serious cancer diagnosis. Participant evaluations often say that the Cancer Help Program far exceeded their expectations.

Who is on the staff at the Cancer Help Program?

The Cancer Help Program has a highly experienced and distinguished staff. The staff includes:

• Waz Thomas, Program Coordinator.
• Kate Holcombe, Program Coordinator-in-training and Yoga Teacher.
• Michael Lerner, Commonweal President and author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer.
• Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., Medical Director and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfathers Blessings.
• Lenore Lefer, MFT and Stuart Horance Ph.D. are the rotating psychotherapists on different retreats.
• Retreat Center Director Jenepher Stowell teaches a session on sacred/healing space.
• Massage Coordinator Jnani Chapman, RN, leads a team of skilled massage practitioners, which includes Monica Kaufer, Elizabeth Evans and Sabriga Turgon.
• Irene Gallwey is our Sandtray facilitator.
• Claire Heart and Rebecca Katz are our knowledgeable and creative vegetarian chefs.

How often do Cancer Help Program retreats take place?

Commonweal offers the Cancer Help Program six times a year, three times in the Fall and three times in the Spring. Sometimes there is a waiting list so it helps to apply early to ensure that you can participate. The Cancer Help Program is also offered by Smith Farm Center for the Healing Arts (www.smithfarm.com) in Washington, D.C., Commonweal's collaborating center. Both centers share staff, information, and other resources on a regular basis. Because we only take eight or nine people on each retreat (the ideal number for small group work), and conduct only six week-long retreats each year, it became an ethical imperative for us to help other centers to start their own versions of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. There are now a number of these programs across the United States and Canada. Staff from many of these programs have participated in professional training programs at Commonweal, and we have heard good things about the experience of participants who attend these programs.

What does the Cancer Help Program cost?

The Cancer Help Program fee is $1980 per person for the week, an all inclusive fee. The fee covers housing, meals, program and materials. We are able to offer the Cancer Help Program at this fee only because contributions from Cancer Help Program alumni cover half the cost of the program, and enable us to offer scholarship assistance to some participants who would not otherwise be able to join us. The Cancer Help Program is in this real sense a gift offered by CCHP Alumni to participants who come after them. CCHP Alumni know how profoundly the Cancer Help Program affected their lives.

How do I apply?

When you have reviewed the information, please call Waz Thomas, Cancer Help Program Coordinator, at 415-868-0970. He will talk with you about your interest and the application process. Thank you for your interest in the Cancer Help Program.

How do I find a copy of Michael Lerner's book Choices in Healing?

The full text of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer, [MIT Press, 1994, $17.95) by Michael Lerner, president and founder of Commonweal is available on our website. This 600 page book has been well received both in medical journals and in the lay press. The book can be accessed chapter by chapter, and there is a search engine available for seeking information on particular cancers or therapies.

How do I find transcripts of the Jenifer Altman Memorial Lectures?

Jenifer Altman participated in the June 1989 and August 1990 Cancer Help Programs. She later became a dear friend and colleague to Commonweal. After her death in 1991 her estate created the foundation named in her honor. Some years later this annual lecture was also named to honor Jenifer's lasting spirit of generosity, graciousness and hope. The Jenifer Altman Memorial Lecture has brought many national leaders in cancer to the Bay Area to discuss their work. [Lecture]

How do I locate practitioners recommended by past participants in the Cancer Help Program?

For access to our CanServe database on practitioners and other resources for informed choice in cancer therapies, contact: Mimi Mindel at (415) 868-0970 or

Directions to Commonweal

Commonweal is located in Bolinas, California at
451 Mesa Road, Bolinas, CA 94924.
Download a map (PDF) with driving directions to Commonweal.
Click here for driving directions from Google.