MISSION: Flatwater Foundation is dedicated to providing those diagnosed with cancer, their families, and loved ones access to mental health therapy and family support. This includes access to both traditional and non-traditional methods of psychological counseling.
Our Goals
Provide mental health services via licensed providers for those that would not otherwise have access.
Raise awareness of the importance of mental health and the challenges that exist when a cancer diagnosis is introduced into a family or tight community.
Break the stigma associated with asking for and receiving mental health support.
Encourage participation in exercise and outdoor activities as a means of providing balance and mental well-being.
Create fun and effective fundraising opportunities that unite communities and promote the values of The Foundation.
Our Values
Mental health support is essential when coping with a cancer diagnosis.
Families and support networks make everything possible. Unity is strength.
Exercise provides a direct path to mental well-being, empowers the soul and invigorates the body.
The Foundation seeks fairness in all operations, decisions and programs we implement.
We look to build a network with partners that illustrate integrity, compassion, and an understanding of the importance of mental well-being.
Psychotherapy Solution:
Our mission is to provide access to mental health support to those diagnosed with cancer that would otherwise not be able to pay for the care, as well as their families and loved ones in need.
Through a series of local fundraisers and private donations, we raise funds to provide access to care for those in need of financial assistance. We work to address the mental challenges via psychotherapy in order for individuals and families to focus on building and maintaining skills to cope with a cancer diagnosis.
The Psychotherapy Solution was designed to help cancer survivors and their families find the strength to meet the challenges of a cancer diagnosis through psychotherapy.
Flatwater Foundation has developed a network of Referral Agents at top cancer institutions and organizations to identify those in need of support. This network includes Social Workers at Texas Oncology, Breast Cancer Resource Center of Texas (BCRC), Wonders and Worries and Austin Cancer Centers, among others. This team is able to identify and place those in need of care into long-term counseling with our Flatwater care providers.
Who are these care providers?
Our organization has also created a network of top licensed psychotherapists (LCSW, LCP, LMFT, PhD, and others) that meet Flatwater Foundation standards, each of which has agreed to a sliding scale rate. This network of therapists is able to provide care to those individuals and families identified by our Referral Agents via ongoing support, and the money raised by Flatwater Foundation pays for this care. Our therapists are not volunteers. We seek to provide paid care for those in need, as every life is important and deserving of this care, and we look to ensure proper attention is given to every program participant.
Program Testimonial:
I am 2 months into my remission from Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was diagnosed when I was 11 weeks pregnant.
My husband tried for 9 months to have another baby, and after one round of Clomid, we succeeded. After my diagnosis, I was told by 4 different doctors that I could not keep my baby that I wanted so desperately, but it ultimately came down to my survival.
I have a 6 year old daughter that I chose to live for.
The termination and the cancer have been devastating to me both physically and mentally.
I’m currently seeing a wonderful therapist who I found through The Flatwater Foundation.
I’ve learned that just because my cancer is gone for now, I am still not okay, and probably will never fully be myself again after everything I’ve been though.
The Flatwater Foundation is a wonderful cause, and would not be as strong as I am without them.
– Program Participant
Equine Assisted Counseling (EAC) or Psychotherapy (EAP)
In an effort to touch more lives and further expand the type of mental health therapy Flatwater Foundation provides access to, we now fund family and individual Equine Assisted Counseling sessions. These sessions are intended to act as an alternative to “traditional” talk therapy and are open to any individual or family directly affected by a cancer diagnosis.
This form of counseling incorporates horses within a therapeutic environment supporting emotional growth and healing. Licensed therapists and equine professionals work together with clients and horses to address treatment goals. Sessions are guided by our model that is “hands on” (or experiential). In other words, clients learn about themselves naturally through horse-related activities and interactions, and then discuss any thoughts, feelings, or behavior patterns that arise.
EAC addresses the following areas:
Healing from trauma
Grief and loss
The role of trust in forming new relationships
Self-awareness and self-reflection
Personal growth and life skill development
Leadership and effective communication skills
How to objectively reflect on patterns of behavior and understand how these behaviors impact other areas of your life
PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS
I am so grateful to Flatwater Foundation for the amazing program they offer cancer patients and their families.
When I received my second cancer diagnosis…I was referred to the program that offered Equine Therapy along with mental health services. It was there that we truly found help, both for myself and for my son. In the peaceful surroundings and in the presence of these magnificent animals, I was able to find peace to be able face my diagnosis and the treatment I was about to undergo and find ways to help my son deal with his feelings and emotions about it.
For my son, being around the horses helped him to regulate his feelings and energy, and connect with them in a way that allowed him to express the difficulties he was having and the fears he had. Not only did we both find help individually, but also as a family. Working together with the horses, my son and I found a deeper connection during a time when we would be separated by both time and distance.
Lindsey and Elisa have created a safe place for us to come that has supported us through and after a difficult time in our lives.
If it weren’t for the generosity of Flatwater Foundation, I don’t know where we would be. This has been by far the most effective therapy we have received.
Thank you, Flatwater Foundation, for making a difference in our lives.
– Program Participant
My husband was first diagnosed with melanoma in December of 2011. After surgery to test his lymph nodes we found out that the cancer had not spread.
Telling our two girls (ages 10 and 8 at that time) was not easy but we continued on with our lives. In April of 2013, my husband found a a lump near his rib-cage. The cancer was back and had spread to his brain and lungs.
The girls started seeing a therapist (Corrine)at Wonders & Worries that September. I cannot begin to tell you how much this program has helped the girls and me. I did not know how to talk to them especially when I was going through my own hell.
Corrine was able to help them understand their feelings and how to express them to me and to their father as well as learn more about the disease.
After my husband passed away in February of 2014, they began seeing Lindsey and Elisa and the wonderful horses at Flatwater Foundation’s Equine Therapy Program. The girls are now able to communicate through the horses and help them express themselves. Coming to the ranch versus an office makes the therapy session much more enjoyable.
We are able to talk more about him and share our sadness.
I don’t know what I/we would have done without Flatwater Foundation. As the surviving spouse and now single parent,I have everything on my plate not to mention my own grief. My worry for the girls has been lifted knowing they are being guided through their grief by a group of amazing people who are taking them through this journeyin a way I could not begin to.”
– Program Participant
ACCEPTS VIRTUAL CLIENTS
411 West Monroe, Suite 1
Austin, Texas 78704
(512) 553-2010
[email protected]
[email protected]
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