Oakland Clinic for Underserved Women With Cancer Adds Guided Imagery to Its Free Services
Going through cancer treatment is rough on everyone. It’s twice as hard if you don’t have support to cope with the physical and emotional side effects. And during a global pandemic? That’s just icing on a layer cake of stress.
So, we’re delighted that the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic (CMC) in Oakland, Calif., adopted Health Journeys’ guided imagery at a tough time when it couldn’t offer services in person and when stress was at an all-time high. And we’re absolutely thrilled that they plan to keep using our audios now that they’ve reopened.
CMC is a non-profit that’s been a much-loved, trusted community resource for women with cancer for over 30 years. Their team of 200 volunteer practitioners offers integrative services like acupuncture, massage, and herbal & homeopathic supplements absolutely free. (How fabulous is that?) It also encourages the women to focus on healing and strengthening their mind and spirit as well as their body – something we know guided imagery is proven to be great at.
Last year, though, COVID-19 forced the clinic to shut down in-person services. It rolled out telehealth and online group offerings to continue providing as much comfort and support as possible from a distance, but that wasn’t enough.
CMC’s new medical director, Mary Lynn Morales, LAc, DAIM, also wanted to make guided imagery as accessible as possible, as an instant self-soother 24/7 that would also keep people feeling connected and supported while they couldn’t visit their clinic.
Because Morales had been using Health Journeys audios with her own clients for years, she knew we had multiple ways of providing them. She asked us to create a branded streaming page that CMC clients can access easily, even if they’re unhoused, lack a smartphone, or speak only Spanish. Family members, staff, practitioners, friends and colleagues are welcome to listen, too, without budging the modest cost for the page.
CMC resumed in-person services on October 1, but the streaming page had established its value as a super-scalable force multiplier for health and emotional resilience. People will continue to tap into their inner strength, healing capacity and wisdom between appointments, at any time, from anywhere.
“I love that we can put these tools right into someone’s hand via their mobile phones,” Morales says. “They can listen all night, if they can’t sleep, or during the day if they get scared or have pain. It helps alleviate isolation and creates windows for hope and healing to shine through.”
