Pamela J. Ginsberg, Ph.D., PC

04/15/2024

https://www.breastcancer.org/podcast/easing-stress-anxiety

Dr. Pamela Ginsberg discusses strategies and tools to help ease stress and anxiety after a breast cancer diagnosis.

10/25/2023

After more than 35 years of providing psychotherapy services, I am pleased to announce my retirement from my clinical practice! I will be discontinuing any psychotherapy services as of November 30, 2023.

I will continue to be available for speaking engagements, presentations, writing opportunities, and consulting for the cancer community and cancer related organizations. To talk with me about these opportunities, please contact me at pamelaginsbergphd@gmail.com.

I am deeply grateful to my colleagues, business partners, community organizations, healthcare systems for the rewarding work we have done together. Professional collaboration has always been a priority in my work and my relationships with you have given me deep meaning and satisfaction over many years.

I am also deeply, deeply grateful for all the patients that have put their trust in me over the years. Your stories have moved me to tears and sometimes to laughter together, and you all have given my professional life substance and meaning and depth. You have inspired me with your courage and fortitude and made me certain about the genuine goodness of people and that almost all of what is important to us is to have someone listen and understand.

Please feel free to reach out to me via pamelaginsbergphd@gmail.com

With profound gratitude,
Dr Pam

06/19/2023

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/facingcancertogether/episodes/Fear-of-Recurrence-e2145sf

Fear of recurrence podcast I did for the Cancer Support Community of Greater Philadelphia. Please feel free to share as you wish.

Dr. Pam Ginsgerg, a psychologist specializing in psycho-oncology, discusses the fear of cancer recurrence and strategies to help you cope with it.

10/02/2022

From the Bucks County Women’s Journal

08/01/2022

My latest Buck County Women's Journal article. A Values Driven Life.

06/02/2022

Bucks County Women's Journal

05/06/2022

For all the grieving mothers out there…..I see you on Mother’s Day.

Mother's Day Manifesto

I am a mother. I am a bereaved mother. My child died, and this is my reluctant path. It is not a path of my choice, but it is a path I must walk mindfully and with intention. It is a journey through the darkest night of my soul, and it will take time to wind through the places that scare me.

Every cell in my body aches and longs to be with my beloved child. On days when grief is loud, I may be impatient, distracted, frustrated, and unfocused. I may get angry more easily, or I may seem hopeless. I will shed many, many, many tears. I won’t smile as often as my old self. Smiling hurts now. Most everything hurts some days, even breathing.

But please, just sit beside me.

Say nothing.

Do not offer a cure.
Or a pill, or a word, or a potion.
Witness my suffering and don't turn away from me.

Please be gentle with me.
And I will try to be gentle with me too.

I will not ever "get over" my child's death so please don’t urge me down that path.

Even on days when grief is quiescent, when it isn't standing loudly in the foreground, even on days when I am able to smile again, the pain is just beneath the surface.

There are days when I still feel paralyzed. My chest feels the sinking weight of my child's absence and, sometimes, I feel as if I will explode from the grief.

Losing my child affects me in so many ways: as a woman, a mother, a human being. It affects every aspect of me: spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are days when I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore.

Grief is as personal to me as my fingerprint. Don't tell me how I should or shouldn’t be grieving or that I should or shouldn’t “feel better by now.” Don't tell me what's right or wrong. I'm doing it my way, in my time. If I am to survive this, I must do what is best for me.

My understanding of life will change and a different meaning of life will slowly evolve. What I knew to be true or absolute or real or fair about the world has been challenged so I'm finding my way, moment-to-moment in this new place.

Things that once seemed important to me are barely thoughts any longer. I notice life's suffering more- hungry children, the homeless and the destitute, a mother’s harsh voice toward her young child- an elderly person struggling with the door, an animal being hurt. There are so many things about the world which I now struggle to understand.

There are some questions, I've learned, which are simply unanswerable.

So please don’t tell me that “ God has a plan ” for me. This, my friend, is between me and my God. Those platitudes slip far too easily from the mouths of those who tuck their own child into a safe, warm bed at night. Grieving families won’t wake up one day with everything ’okay’ and life back to normal. We have a new normal now.

As time passes, I may gain gifts, and treasures, and insights but anything gained was too high a cost when compared to what was lost. Perhaps, one day, when I am very, very old, I will say that time has truly helped to “heal” my broken heart. But always remember that not a second of any minute of any hour of any day passes when I am not aware of the presence of my child's absence, no matter how many years lurk over my shoulder.

So this year, on Mother’s Day, don’t forget that I have another one, another child, whose absence, like the sky, is spread over everything as C.S. Lewis said.

Don’t forget to say, “How are you really feeling this Mother’s Day?” Don’t forget that even if I have living children, my heart still aches for the one who is not here —for I am never quite complete without my child.

My child may have died; but my love - and my motherhood - never will.
​
(c) 1998, 2008, 2019
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For all your precious ones, missed every second of every hour of every day of every year.

https://www.centerforlossandtrauma.com/mother-s-manifesto

03/10/2022

In the next installment of our Mental Health Series, join licensed psychologist, Pamela J. Ginsberg, Ph.D., to learn about some of the mental health challenges we face throughout life. As we age, our mental health changes with us. You are not alone!

01/31/2022

Most recent Bucks County Women's Journal article.

01/30/2022

I can tell you why you cannot seem to become that woman you so very much aspire to be.

She is not you.

You are, quite wrongly, chasing an ideal of a woman you will never be.

And you are, quite wrongly, ignoring the woman that you already so very much are.

And peace will not come until you take a deep hard look at yourself and see the plethora of wonder, grace and humanity.
All wrapped up, a little messily, into a loveable parcel of real-ness.

Humans do not come perfectly packaged, with a warranty or guarantee.

We are miracles of science, nature and a little magic.
Born of centuries of incredible ancestors who walked through fire and ice to bring us to life.

And we cannot be tamed into a neat little box.

Stop chasing the ideal of a woman you were not born to be and start embracing she who is fizzing fiercely to be seen, right in front of your eyes.

Let her out.

Donna Ashworth

Art by The Art Sherpa

Books (UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B095MZ3XFP/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_YC9Z4N4ETMVN7D76PDCC
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095MZ3XFP/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_4BH700ZWFE1JWNYM169V?psc=1)

The Right Words: when you need them most