Beat the odds of feeling bad!!
Of course the odds of feeling bad are high when you or your loved one is diagnosed with cancer or another life-threatening illness. Many just assume that depression, anxiety, fear, and worry are simply unavoidable consequences of a serious illness.
The Beat the Odds program, based on the influential work of O. Carl Simonton, MD, an acclaimed oncologist, proves that assumption wrong, freeing patients and their families from the grip of pessimism.
Quality of life weighs heavily on the emotions we experience, making the ability to experience hope, meaning, and joy fundamental.
Our comprehensive cancer survivorship program helps patients and their loved ones effectively deal with emotions such as doubt, fear, and blame so more positive emotions can be cultivated, leading to happy, high-quality lives, despite the diagnosis. And research has shown that cancer patients who can re-frame their thinking may increase the likelihood of survival. Click here to read more about these research findings.
There are no intricate theories here. Just easy-to-implement skills you can use to combat stress and increase joy.
Program Description
Beat the Odds program is not a support group. The focus is on teaching easily applicable mind/body medicine skills so you can effectively handle all aspects of the cancer experience, including complex family relationships and interpersonal issues.
Our comprehensive program consists of ten weekly interactive classes (workshops). In each class, you will learn new skill sets to decrease distress and promote healing, followed by discussions and exercises, so you can practice applying your newfound skills. Click here to view the class curriculum.
A Program That’s Also for Your Support Person
No one plans on becoming a support person. It comes unexpectedly and suddenly there are more things to take care of in addition to usual duties such as dealing with doctors, tests, multiple appointments, insurance issues, employment, and benefits. It becomes like a full-time job and it’s easy to get burned out. Coping skills are essential.
While you can certainly attend our classes by yourself, we strongly recommend you bring your spouse or someone else such as a close friend or family member who is dedicated to your care. Our program is designed for your support persons. Just as we give you skills to cope better and feel better, we do the same for them.
The reasons to bring a support person are numerous. Here are the most frequently mentioned benefits:
• Being a support person is tough. Beat the Odds is one of the few programs that teaches the support person skills in a comprehensive way, so they can learn to “speak the same language” and understand the same concepts as the person they’re supporting.
• One of our classes focuses specifically on teaching the skills needed for providing effective support and improving healthy communication.
• You and your support person will learn skills for stress management and emotional competence. Doing the program together allows you to support each other in applying these skills in your daily lives.
• It is easy for the support person to neglect his or her own needs.
• Miscommunications and misunderstandings may become more frequent when the support person feels overwhelmed and can no longer effectively manage their stress. Our program addresses stress management and effective communication.
• Frustrations, worries and doubts can erode the support person’s energy. Our program teaches them how to restore their energy so that they can more adequately support you.
The program is also offered as a five-day Residential Retreat or a two-weekend (Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday two weeks apart) Urban Retreat.
Meet the Program Leader
Mariusz Wirga, M.D., Medical Director of Psychosocial Oncology at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Dr. Wirga has over 25 years of experience working with cancer patients and their families.
Dr. Wirga has dedicated his life to helping patients and their families handle the challenges of cancer diagnosis and treatment and their complex consequences. For over 30 years, he has been refining ways of addressing the emotional, psychological, interpersonal, as well as the spiritual or philosophical needs of participants in his classes, workshops, groups, and individual sessions.
After graduating from Medical University in Poznan, Poland in 1987, Mariusz began leading groups for cancer patients, first as a resident in pathology and later as a resident in radiation oncology. He eventually switched to psychiatry and completed his residency in Psychiatry in the State University of New York Brooklyn and later Washington, DC, under the supervision of Dr. Maxie C. Maultsby, Jr, MD (one of the pioneers in cognitive-behavior therapy). Mariusz got certified by the Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 2000.
Mariusz trained extensively with the leaders and pioneers in the fields of cognitive-behavior therapy, psycho-oncology, mindfulness, lifestyle modification, behavior change, stress management, and cultivating wellbeing. He lectures and conducts workshops on these subjects internationally. Currently, he serves as the Medical Director for the Psychosocial Oncology program at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial.
He founded the Beat the Odds®: A Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Program workshop in Long Beach. Together with his wife Aleksandra Wirga, M.D., also a psychiatrist and psycho-oncologist, they conduct six-day retreats for cancer patients and their families based on the Beat the Odds Program.
Mariusz also developed Boost the Odds Program – From Cancer Survivor to Life Thriver to effectively address modifiable lifestyle cancer risk factors such as stress management, social support and communication, nutrition, physical exercise, sleep and rest, play and laughter, creative expression and connection with nature in cancer survivors. More information about his program can be accessed at www.beat-the-odds.org or www.facebook.com/ibeattheodds.
Dr. Mariusz Wirga is a co-author (together with Dr. Maxie C. Maultsby Jr. and Michael DeBernardi) of the upcoming book ABC of Your Emotions with over 200 cartoon-like illustrations and 250 pages that explain how emotions work, how to manage them, how to handle interpersonal conflict, achieve goals, protect your life and health, and feel the way you want to feel. Mariusz uses old and new available ways to reach people in need from the direct human connection, to print, art, illustrations, phone calls, recordings, video-conferencing, etc. He is particularly interested in using the newest technologies in a user-friendly way and currently is involved in the development of a multi-platform program for helping cancer patients and their families that involves interactive engagement in the therapeutic process using smartphones, videos, and Virtual Reality.
The MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute (TCI) at Long Beach Medical Center is committed to helping patients overcome the challenges of cancer in the state-of-the-art Todd Cancer Pavilion. TCI provides an inspirational environment where patients, families and an expert care team work together to develop individualized treatment plans.
The MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute is dedicated to the early diagnosis, research, treatment and education of patients with cancer or serious blood disorders. At the forefront of cancer management are the divisions of gynecologic, breast, thoracic, gastrointestinal and genitourinary. Treatments include radiation therapy, genetic counseling, minimally invasive surgery including robotic-assisted surgery, and systemic therapies that can include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and biologics.
Through multi-disciplinary treatment planning conferences, TCI specialists review new or difficult cases and develop treatment plans suited to the specific needs of each patient. Personalized care developed for the unique needs of each patient is a clinical reality at TCI.
www.Beat-the-Odds.org
www.memorialcare.org/tci
phone: 562 427 3897
fax 562 595 7703
[email protected]
Long Beach, California
Patricia Merwin says
Thank you, Nancy, for sharing this important information. I’m currently a “Stage 5” eleven year survivor of metastatic lung cancer (female, 63). I was so very fortunate to be referred to Dr. Mariusz Wirga soon after diagnosis. Through the Beat the Odds and Boost the odds programs, I have learned and embraced the tools to successfully live well with cancer and replace negative thoughts and emotions (so many!) with healthier ones. It has definitely taken work, but results speak for themselves. (Btw, when I was diagnosed with a 3-6 month life expectancy, they told me that nothing came after Stage 4. Not true! Stage 5 is when you find Dr. Right and blow their statistics out of the water!). As mentioned above, though Beat the Odds is not a support group, I’ve been able to “do cancer” for 11 years with a supportive community of friends and fellow journeyers who likewise are learning how to beat their odds “One Healthy Thought At A Time”. Thank you again, Nancy, for all you do and for your own amazing journey of survival.