Complementary Cancer Care

Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions Classes

Click on each of the tabs below for more information.  Please register for these classes on our Calendar page.

Music Therapy ClassesCreative Therapeutic Journaling with Miss CharlotteTherapeutic Art with Jenn GalloArt for Self-Care
Music Therapy

All New – Coming in January!!  Join Rob Leiter, MS, MT-BC, NMT, of Florida Music Therapy in Melbourne for bi-monthly, onsite Music Therapy classes.  Multiple areas of wellbeing can be addressed through music therapy. Music therapy in cancer care can improve mood, decrease anxiety, improve physical gross and fine motor skills, support self-expression, enhanced communication, and process trauma.  No musical experience is necessary.

Classes will be held on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 2:30 – 3:30 pm in Melbourne.  To learn more about Florida Music Therapy, visit their website.

 

Look for our Music Therapy classes on our Calendar page – beginning in January!

Creative Therapeutic Journaling with Miss Charlotte

All New!  Join life-long journalist and author, Miss Charlotte, and learn to state your mind in fiction or non-fiction form!  Whatever your skill or comfort level, everyone has the capacity to write creatively and joyfully. Increased comfort with writing in any form of self-expression has been demonstrated to facilitate healing.

Bring something to write on: paper, tablet, laptop, or whatever.  We will do a few simple exercises that everyone can read to the rest of the class if they wish to, no pressure, no evaluation, no criticism.

“I have almost lost all ability to use my right hand to write, or grasp anything.  I am a wizard though at speed typing using seven fingers.  That old nemesis of so many of us, arthritis, has crept into my daily life.”  ~  Miss Charlotte

So, it doesn’t matter about your physical ability to hold a pen – have an electronic means of writing, or even a manual typewriter to pound out your thoughts.  If needed, you can dictate your thoughts into a recorder, have someone write down your oral thoughts…anything goes.  If you can think it, you can write it, or what we will refer to as writing — it is a very loose definition for our purposes.  The act of writing will serve as an empowering form of self-expression and the opportunity to share proves to be a catalyst for peer bonding and personal healing.  Most of all – let’s have fun!

This group is available to anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis, regardless of when or what type, as well as caregivers.

Our online class will typically meet the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at 11:00 – 12:00 via Zoom.

Download and print Journal Templates

Look for our Creative Therapeutic Journaling classes on our Calendar page.

THERAPutic Art with Jenn Gallo

All New – Beginning in January!  Therapeutic Art with Jenn Gallo provides a way to improve psychological wellbeing by focusing more on creativity and less on mental stressors and to enjoy the companionship of fellow cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.  Classes are free and open for anyone dealing with cancer regardless of diagnosis, prognosis, or where treatment is received.

No art experience is necessary.  Come and enjoy the fun of creative expression.  Throughout the year, classes will cover one of the following 5 Art Genres:

  • CANVAS ACRYLIC PAINTING
  • POT PAINTING W/ PLANTS
  • MOSAIC ART
  • WATERCOLOR ART
  • OIL PASTELS

Classes will be held on the 2nd Friday of the month at 11:00am at Cocoa Rock in Cocoa.

Look for our Therapeutic Art with Jenn Gallo classes on our Calendar page, beginning in January.

 

Sponsored by:

Evelyn Foster Foundation

Art for Self-Care with Start from the Heart

Nancy is currently on a sabbatical.  We will let you know when she returns.

Nancy Bindig, founder of Start from the Heart: Art for Self-Care, introduces you to methods of self-expression that let you shift from thinking about cancer to feeling and communicating who you are – with and without cancer – in nonverbal ways.

She holds monthly classes that range from doodling your emotions to weaving as a meditation and working with art paper to create new art in the form of collages or cards.

Some of the benefits from making art or engaging with art include:

    • Finding stress relief and relaxation
    • Developing a language for things that have no words
    • Expressing yourself – from joy to sorrow
    • Engaging your mind by learning a new skill
    • Creating a habit of doing something healthy for yourself on a regular basis
    • Releasing negative thoughts and feelings

No experience with art or drawing is needed for any of her classes.

Connect with Nancy directly from her Facebook page.


PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT: Nancy Bindig, art educator

Nancy is a fiber, mixed media artist and art teacher. She holds a BS in Art Education and has taught adults and children in a variety of settings. Believing that all experience becomes intricately woven into our lives, she brings a love and passion for art, nature, and wellness to her lesson plans. Nancy encourages everyone to discover their own creative voice and to make art for fun, personal expression, and wellness.

In 2023 Nancy will be designing lesson plans with the theme of MAKING CONNECTIONS. “As we strive to find balance and either maintain or gain wellness, we can connect with ourselves and others through the act of making and sharing art experiences. It’s my desire that Complementary Cancer Care clients and others will find an outlet and build confidence when learning new art skills and having fun. The creative process helps us navigate both challenges and the joys in life. By adding art making into one’s routine it can have a profound impact on our body, mind, and spiritual health.”