For area residents living with cancer, in remission or caring for a loved one with the disease, there is a therapeutic arts program designed to offer hope and emotional support.
CHRIS KELLY staff Above: Lissa Yanko-Larkin, of Ocean Township, works with watercolors during a therapeutic painting session for cancer survivors at the Wellness Community in Eatontown on Oct. 28. Below: Mary Dincelli, of Eatontown, also works with watercolors. Located fittingly on Hope Road, the North Jersey Shore Chapter of The Wellness Community offers Monmouth County residents several social programs, including “Paint and Play.”
The Paint and Play program allows communitymembers to express themselves artistically in a safe environment, according to Libby Bacheler, who hosts the program at the Eatontown center.
A cancer survivor herself, Bacheler said that at first she was put off by the idea of giving any more thought to her experience with cancer.
“I just wanted it out of my head,” Bacheler said. But after some time, Bacheler decided to attend an orientation meeting at The Wellness Community, and after the meeting she inquired about any arts programs at the center,
Bacheler approached the Wellness Center’s programming director, Jane Tryba, who is a licensed social worker with over 20 years of experience in the field of oncology and organizes all of the workshops at the center.
Tryba said that the center did not have an arts program, but said that she was interested in finding one.
“I was thrilled because I wanted to bring the creative arts to the wellness community to complement our other programs,” Tryba said. “And here was Libby kind of saying, ‘Here I am. I’m interested,’ and so it was really wonderful.”
Held twice a month, the Paint and Play program has been quite a success, Bacheler said.
“I just know one thing, from the beginning to the end we are normally chit-chatting and laughing and sharing some stories together since most of us are cancer survivors and caregivers as well,” Bacheler said.
“I keep it kind of laid back and I usually come in with two or three different ideas, depending on what level [they are],” she said. “Someone new could walk in today and what I like to do when they are new is have them paint a color wheel just to get them familiar with the paint.
“It’s kind of a relaxation, just getting your mind off other issues. So that’s why I try to keep it real simple,” Bacheler said.
Participants in the Paint and Play program are given a general idea by Bacheler and then encouraged to work however they please.
Classes have involved the use of paint, acrylics and stones as a means to give participants a chance to express themselves artistically.
“I love it here,” Lissa Yanko-Larkin, a member of the center, said after she worked on a piece in which she used her initials to paint an elaborate picture.
“It’s a fabulous environment. For me, I always thought the existence of this place was great,”Yanko-Larkin said, adding that she didn’t decide to attend the workshops at the center
until she realized that her friends were unable
to provide the emotional support that other cancer survivors could.
Tryba explained, “Our goal for our workshops is for everyone to feel good about what they are able to do. Whether it be the yoga class or the painting class.
“So it’s really about helping them tap into their own inner resources, which through that laughter, through the sharing, through the painting they are able to surprise themselves,” Tryba added.
The Paint and Play program is one of several free workshops held at The Wellness Community. The program has been approved to be offered at the local center by the organization’s national headquarters.
“The National Wellness Community has research agreements with different universities around the country,” said Ilene Winters, who founded the Wellness Community in 2006 after her mother died from cancer in 2004.
“And they’ve done research on all of these programs to see if these programs have been beneficial to people who have been affected by cancer.
“If they have, we incorporate them into our programming. If they haven’t, we are not allowed to. So any program that we bring in here has been proven to help people affected by cancer,” Winters said.
She continued, “We do educational programs with the [local] hospitals. They refer people to us. We have our program calendars in the hospitals because a lot of the hospitals don’t have this.
“That’s why I started this, because I thought, you know, if you don’t have hair, you are not going to go to the Atlantic Club.
“You’re probably going to want to be doing yoga with people who are like you. You’re with people who are going through the same thing you are going through,” Winters said.
Those interested in participating in workshops at The Wellness Community, or who want more information about the organization are encouraged to visit the Web site at www.thewellnesscommunity.org/jerseyshore or to call 732-578-9200.
The Wellness Community has helped over 600 people deal with the effects of cancer since it opened its doors to the community, according to Winters.
Winters’ mother, a breast cancer survivor early on in her life, was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in 2002 and succumbed to the illness two years later.
“When she was rediagnosed, I was working on Wall Street and it was after 9/11, and I was really ready to get out anyway,” Winters said. “And when she was rediagnosed, I said, ‘This is how I’m going to change my life.
“I really wanted to do something to help people affected by cancer because there are so many of them.
“So that’s how it evolved into trying to start a cancer wellness center and then getting some support from the community, and that evolving to having a charter of The Wellness Community,” Winters said.
A national organization first founded in 1982 by Harold Benjamin Ph.D., the Wellness Community is now the largest support programin the United States dedicated to providing free psychological and emotional support to people with cancer and their families.
“Our mission is to just help people enhance their lives,” Winters said. “The core of the program is support.
“Probably 70 percent of what goes on here is support, but that has a connotation to people sitting around talking about their feelings; some people don’t like to do that.
“We have lots of educational programs because people are always in search of education when they have been diagnosed with cancer,” she said, adding, “Whether it’s a recent diagnosis or you’re 15 years out, you still want to know what’s going on in my area of cancer.”
The local Wellness Center also offers nutrition and exercise programs; mind, body and spirit classes; yoga; qigong; tai chi; meditation; relaxation; guided imagery; and several social programs.
Contact Daniel Howley at