Welcome to CourageCollages
CourageCollages
workshops are intended to facilitate the emotional coping and healing process
for cancer patients and survivors. Studies have repeatedly shown that the
quality of life for cancer patients and survivors is improved by receiving
support and feeling supported. There are many paths to healing after a cancer
diagnosis including traditional therapy, support groups and journaling. The
CourageCollages workshop is an additional way for individuals to express their
feelings, hopes and fears on the journey to their “new normal.”
CourageCollages workshops are always friendly, therapeutic and supportive, offering cancer survivors an opportunity to create a personalized collage of their lives and future. We define survivors as anyone who is diagnosed with cancer, whether they are newly diagnosed, in active treatment, or a person who has completed treatment. Workshop participants are welcomed regardless of stage at diagnosis, type of cancer, and/or status of disease (remission or active). All of our workshops are free to participants and we seek funding and support through a variety of foundations, grants, sponsoring organizations and individual donors.
Workshops may be open to patients and survivors of all types of cancer, or they may be cancer specific. All workshops are open to both genders unless there is an exception noted in the registration process. We do offer customized workshops to current, stand alone, support groups; or for a specific type of cancer patient or survivor. We also offer a “Family and Friends” workshop for families to create a collage together when one of the parents is a cancer patient or survivor. Finally, we offer a specialty workshop for children who are dealing with cancer where their parents and siblings may also attend.
Our workshops usually include between 6 – 12 individuals. Our goal is to create an intimate environment where participants feel welcome, relaxed and completely supported as they create their unique and personal collage.
Our basic CourageCollages workshops requires a one time, 4-hour time commitment at the end of which participants will take their collage home. Each workshop has both a process facilitator and a therapist to help the group move through the emotions that may come from sharing and creating. Our workshops are therapeutic in nature, offering participants an alternative to traditional therapy or journaling by working through their thoughts, joys, frustrations, hopes, fears, and dreams with pictures, words and embellishments and using them to illustrate those feelings in their 3-D collage.
All necessary materials to create their collage are provided to participants except for their personal pictures and items. Participants are encouraged to bring 5 – 10 photographs of people, places, or pets that are important to them to help personalize their collage. They may also bring quotes, cards, letters, journals or anything that is meaningful to them that they would like to attach to their collage. Along with the 20” X 30” individual foam boards for each person’s collage, we bring markers, glue, scissors, paint, chalk, buttons, ribbons, vellum (see through) quotes, stickers, embellishments, and magazines to share for cutting out items, words, pictures.
More information on what happens during our workshop can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of our webpage.