The East Bay Cancer Support Group

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Group Facilitators

 

Connie Holmes, Ed.D.
During my training, when I first met children who had cancer, I felt drawn to working with people with this disease and with their loved ones. During the last 17 years, I have counseled many people with cancer. I understand how frightened, alone and overwhelmed people can feel. Working with a seasoned psycho-oncologist can ease these aspects of the journey.

In my sessions, we talk about how the disease is affecting them. We talk about their fears of pain, how their bodies are changing and their inability to keep up with their usual lives. We talk about what they now most value and how to honor it. We talk about how they are relating to their loved ones. We talk about their fear of death. Being diagnosed with cancer immediately changes lives. Now days are filled with countless medical appointments. People wonder whom to tell and what to say. They sometimes find others' responses painful.

How to treat their illness requires many decisions of them. We discuss and evaluate all the options, conventional and complementary. We consider how each might affect their life. Sometimes people are cured. Often there is remission and they can put cancer aside, even for years. But remission can end. Now we work through feelings and choices—preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

My late husband David lived with prostate cancer for six years. We explored every way to allow him to continue working. Finally, the options ran out. We who loved him helped him face his final time. This loss has brought me closer to all the issues.

Over the years, I have come to understand that each person makes this journey in their own unique way. For me, it is a privilege to support them in whatever way helps. I believe I am a steady, honest and reliable ally and guide for people in this most trying of times.

Barbara Gordon, LMFT
Barbara is a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in
grief counseling. She is currently Bereavement Coordinator for Sutter
VNA & Hospice in San Leandro and has extensive experience facilitating groups. "Having support at a difficult time can make all the
difference. Groups are so helpful to feel connected and less alone. It
is a privilege to accompany people on their journey through the
grieving process."
Barbara's previous experience includes Grief Ministry Coordinator for
Catholic Charities and long-time hospice volunteering, most recently
for the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. In 2002, she received
the John F. Kennedy University Alumna of the Year award in recognition
for her outstanding work with the dying and their families. Barbara
has a private practice in Berkeley.

Shellie Hatfield LCSW
Shellie Hatfield is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in working with cancer patients. She received her degree from a MSW/DSW program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia , Pa..  Her early career began when she was the oncology social worker for the Cancer Research Institute at UCSF in San Francisco. She learned hypnosis there and she conducted

training seminars for medical residents in the psychosocial care of cancer patients.   She has maintained two private practice offices where she sees cancer patients; but  also sees individuals, couples, and families. She is on staff as a mental health consultant at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Redwood City and runs a weekly metastatic cancer group for Alta Bates Cancer Center.  She has over 25 years of experience as a clinician in health care in the Bay area. She believes that the emotionall support derived from participating in a support group enhances coping and facilitates healing. She is currently facilitating the Bereavment and Caregiver Groups,  for the East Bay Cancer Support Group.

Deborah A. Moore BSN, MSN, OCN, FNP-C
 Debbie holds a Master's in Nursing/Oncology from the University of California, San Francisco, 1994, and received her Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate from California State University, Sonoma, in 1995.  She has 25 years of experience in oncology nursing with a specialty in breast cancer.  Debbie is on staff at Kaiser Permanente, has extensive experience in public speaking on breast cancer,

chemotherapy, and pain management.  Breast cancer is a personal passion for Debbie, since she lost her mother to it, when she was 16.  "I know from my own family experience what a devastating diagnosis this can be, and that knowledge brings power at a time when women and their families feel powerless. The recent death of my husband, Paul, from advanced esophageal cancer, and the care I provided him, have given me a new perspective of what patients and caregivers are faced with on a daily basis.  This has made me a far better provider in my nurse practitioner role".