Cancer Support Sonoma provides complementary therapy services to people diagnosed with cancer to find support and improve quality of life.
Cancer Support Sonoma helps people with cancer find support and improve their quality of life.
11/18/2025
🎉 Celebrating 10 Years of Healing, Hope & Heart 🎉
We are honored to share our 10th Anniversary video, marking a decade of Cancer Support Sonoma’s mission to provide integrative therapies, comfort, and community to those facing a cancer diagnosis.
For ten years, our dedicated practitioners, volunteers, donors, and partners have helped create a space where clients can find relief, connection, and strength during one of life’s most challenging journeys.
💛 Thank you to everyone who has walked alongside us.
💛 Thank you to those who believed in the power of healing beyond medicine.
💛 And thank you to the clients who inspire us every day with their courage.
Here’s to the next ten years of compassionate care and transformative support.
✨ Watch the anniversary video and celebrate with us! ✨
11/01/2025
🎄✨ Holiday Wreath Workshop — Benefiting Cancer Support Sonoma! ✨🎄
Join us on Saturday, December 6, 2025, from 3–5pm at Cancer Support Sonoma for a festive afternoon of creativity and cheer! 🌿🍷
Create your own stunning holiday wreath at this hands-on workshop led by Joelle Smith of Floral Journey by Valley of the Bloom. Enjoy lite bites and wine as you craft, connect, and celebrate the season — all while supporting a great cause. 💚
🎟️ Tickets: $125 — with 20% of proceeds benefiting Cancer Support Sonoma.
🌸 Tickets go on sale November 1, 2025. Space is limited!
Let’s make something beautiful together this holiday season! ✂️💐
10/27/2025
🌿 Practitioner Spotlight: Dawna Leigh 🌿
Meet Dawna Leigh, whose curiosity about the mind-body connection began in her mid-30s and grew into a lifelong journey of healing and self-discovery.
Five years ago, Dawna joined a Jin Shin Jyutsu self-help class at her senior center — and everything changed.
✨ “At the end of an hour and just holding each of my fingers, I felt complete harmony in my whole being. I had to know more!” ✨
Since then, she’s studied with the international faculty of Jin Shin Jyutsu Spirit Mind Body, becoming certified to practice and teach self-help in 2023.
We’re so grateful for the warmth, wisdom, and healing energy Dawna brings as one of our practitioners to Cancer Support Sonoma. 💚
10/24/2025
💙 Practitioner Spotlight: Catharina Severson, LMFT 💙
Meet Catharina Severson, a compassionate, culturally sensitive, and client-centered therapist who has been supporting individuals, couples, and families for over 17 years.
Her work blends heart and science — drawing on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness, EMDR, and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to guide clients through healing from stress, trauma, relationship challenges, life transitions, and parenting concerns.
Her work at the Cancer Wellness Program at Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa provided her with deep insight into the emotional needs of those facing cancer — a calling she continues today with the dedicated team at Cancer Support Sonoma.
We are so grateful to have Catharina’s warmth, expertise, and compassion supporting our community. 💚
10/24/2025
A HUGE THANKS to everyone who made this year’s WigOut Sonoma! a tremendous success!
Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, often lead to hair loss, but “WigOut Sonoma,” founded in 2019, tackles these challenging realities with both humor and gra…
10/20/2025
💚 Spotlight on Support: Ken Blackwood 💚
We’re honored to share our deep appreciation for Ken Blackwood, who brings his compassion and extensive experience to Cancer Support Sonoma as both the facilitator of our Caregivers Support Group and an End-of-Life Doula.
Since 2015, Ken has sponsored individuals in recovery programs for alcohol addiction, and in 2021, he became certified in Conflict Management Resolution. He recently earned his certificate from the International Association of Professional End-of-Life Doulas (IAPO), further enriching the comfort and guidance he provides to those at the end of life.
Following his own Leukemia diagnosis, Ken became a client at Cancer Support Sonoma — bringing both his personal and professional insight to those facing a cancer diagnosis, as well as to the caregivers who support them.
We are so grateful for Ken’s presence, wisdom, and the steady comfort he brings to our community. 🌿💛
10/17/2025
💃✨ Here are a few more photos from this year’s WigOut Sonoma! 🎉
It was a night full of color, laughter, community, and generosity — all in support of Cancer Support Sonoma. 💖
📸 Photos courtesy of Will Murray of sonomaslife.com.
👉 See the full gallery at sonomaslife.com
whirlpool bath Wines The Singing Auctioneer Photos of Life In Sonoma
10/15/2025
✨Photos from this year’s WigOut Sonoma! are here — and what a night it was! 🎉
💃🕺 A huge thank-you to everyone who came out in support of Cancer Support Sonoma and helped make this event so much fun and so meaningful. 💖
🎤 Special thanks to our amazing auctioneer, Ellen Toscano — The Singing Auctioneer! Your energy and talent helped make the night unforgettable. 🙌
📸 All photos are courtesy of Will Murray of sonomaslife.com — thank you, Will, for capturing the joy, color, and community spirit of WigOut!
👉 See more photos at sonomaslife.com
whirlpool bath Wines The Singing Auctioneer Photos of Life In Sonoma
10/15/2025
💚 Welcome Back, Annette Huck! 💚
We’re so happy to welcome Annette Huck back to Cancer Support Sonoma! 🌿
Annette will be offering Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions and therapeutic massage therapy to our clients on the first Friday of each month.
Her gentle touch and healing energy have been deeply missed — and we’re so grateful to have her with us again! 💆♀️✨
10/15/2025
💛 With Heartfelt Gratitude 💛
We want to extend our deepest thanks to Dr. Alexis Alexandridis — affectionately known as “Dr. A” — who served on the Cancer Support Sonoma Board of Directors for nearly seven years.
Dr. A’s commitment has left an indelible mark on our organization — from providing the physical space where we first offered our services, to offering thoughtful leadership as a Board member and Secretary, and to generously supporting our mission every step of the way.
Her dedication and compassion have strengthened Cancer Support Sonoma in countless ways. We are, and always will be, profoundly grateful. 💐
Thank you, Dr. A.
09/22/2025
🌿 New Service Launch at Cancer Support Sonoma 🌿
We are honored to introduce our new End-of-Life Doula Services, made possible through the Susan Lundquist End of Life Doula Project. These services provide compassionate, non-medical support to people living with cancer—and, when desired, to their caregivers and loved ones—helping them prepare, reflect, and find peace through life’s final transition.
✨ Join us for our launch event and panel presentation:
Living Fully… Preparing for Life’s “What Ifs”
📅 Thursday, October 2
🕕 6:00–7:30 pm
📍 Cancer Support Sonoma, 585 First Street West, Sonoma
Meet our doula team, learn about the care and advocacy they provide, and explore how end-of-life doulas can support a meaningful and dignified journey.
This is the first in a new monthly series of gatherings open to the public. It’s never too early to prepare for life’s “what-ifs.”
Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce City of Sonoma Sonoma Index-Tribune / Sonomanews.com Sonoma Valley Sun
09/19/2025
🎸 Sneak Peek Alert! 🎶
Get ready for Live In The Vineyard Goes Country at WigOut Sonoma!
This amazing live auction package includes two tickets to the Uptown Theatre concert (April 22, 2026), two tickets to the Send-Off Brunch (April 23, 2026), and a keepsake acoustic guitar signed by the artists performing at the event.
🎉 WigOut is NEXT WEEK – and tickets are almost gone! Don’t miss your chance to bid on this unforgettable experience.
👉 www.cancersupportsonoma.org/wigout
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Cancer Support Sonoma helps people with cancer find support and improve their quality of life.
Launched under a partnership between the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and The North Bay Cancer Alliance, and funded as a research study, CSS is the only oncology program in the Sonoma Valley. Services are available to anyone in the valley and surrounding areas who has (or had) cancer, from diagnosis throughout treatment and into recovery.
In October 2017, when the Cancer Support Sonoma study came to an end, we had a choice to make: close our doors or find new funding sources and a new home and continue to provide services.
The feedback from patients and a glimpse at study results told us our work has made a significant difference in the lives of those we serve. The request from patients and providers was heartfelt and unanimous – “Please keep Cancer Support Sonoma going.” So, of course, we chose option 2!
Reinventing Cancer Support Sonoma
Having to pause the program while we regrouped left us with a full roster of patients, some with advanced stages of cancer. Our patients had come to depend on their weekly visits to the third floor at SVH, which some described as a “healing oasis.”
They looked forward to receiving hands-on care from providers who have extensive experience in treating the physical and emotional side effects of chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation. As a frequent recipient of our services said, “This is the only place that I don’t have to be the breast cancer warrior queen!”
Finding Funding
To help us get started, CSS received a patient donation and a small grant from To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation. Sonoma chiropractor Dr. Eliot Carter generously offered temporary office space located down the street from the hospital. Former Program Director Pam Koppel set about establishing a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization and seeking new funding sources so Cancer Support Sonoma could operate on its own. Over 2018, we found a clinical space, established a Board of Directors, and hosted our first fundraising event (Our 2018 Holiday Open House and Silent Auction.)
We are now providing critical integrative oncology services 2-3 days a week at our home at 246 Perkins Street in Sonoma, CA 95476.
In addition to our dedicated staff and providers, CSS will depend on generous volunteers and donations from the community. You can learn more about donating at our website www.cancersupportsonoma.org.
