Art, Poetry Program Helps Aid Individuals Touched by Cancer

Charleston, SC – Roper St. Francis Healthcare has announced that “Expressions of Healing,” a series of special workshops designed to help cancer patients, survivors and loved ones cope with emotions related to a cancer diagnosis, will begin its next session on Thursday, March 27. Workshops will be held weekly through May 15 from 6-8 p.m. at Roper Hospital, Conference Room #1. Complimentary parking will be provided. To register or for more information, please call 843-402-CARE (2273).

“Expressions of Healing” recognizes art as a powerful tool in helping individuals touched by cancer cope with the full range of emotions and stress related to the disease. Workshops are designed to help participants express their feelings by creating artwork, poems and journals. No art or writing experience is required. A journal and art supplies are provided for each person participating in the course, which is now in its eighth year.

“Cancer impacts people in many ways,” explained South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, who leads the workshops with Nancy Hackard, an art therapist with the S.C. Department of Mental Health. “The healing process must take into account the needs of the whole person – emotional, spiritual, mental and social, as well as physical.”

Both Wentworth and Hackard have experience in working with people in a therapeutic learning environment. As credentialed professionals in their respective fields of literary and visual art, their goal is to guide those who attend the sessions in using their creativity to express feelings that reflect their experience with cancer.

At Roper St. Francis Cancer Center, patients benefit from a comprehensive team approach, including state-of-the-art technology and equipment for diagnosis and treatment, participation in ongoing clinical trials and access to a wide range of cancer-related education and support services, like Expressions of Healing. For more information on Roper St. Francis Cancer Center call 843-402-CARE (2273) or visit our website, www.rsfh.com.

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The Roper St. Francis Healthcare Mission:

Healing All People with Compassion, Faith and Excellence.