What is cancer support counseling and how can it help?

Cancer support counseling is a specialized therapy that addresses the emotional and psychological impact of a diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. It helps patients, survivors, and caregivers navigate medical trauma, anxiety, depression, and identity shifts.

How does somatic therapy help with medical trauma?

Somatic therapy, along with cognitive behavioral therapy, is effective in managing anxiety and depression. It helps resolve medical trauma by processing the physical stress stored in the body after clinical procedures.

Do you offer emotional support for cancer caregivers in Marin County?

Yes. My practice also provides caregiver support online throughout Marin County, including cities such as San Rafael and Novato.

Can counseling help with fear of cancer recurrence?

Fear of recurrence is common. Counseling focuses on learning tools to manage stress and anxiety, as well as a supportive place to process your emotions about the experience.

What is the difference between general therapy and oncology counseling?

Oncology counseling focuses on the unique psychological and emotional effects of serious illness, grief, identity change, and working within medical systems.

Is cancer support counseling only for people who are currently in treatment?

No. Cancer support counseling can be helpful at many points. Some people seek support right after diagnosis, others during treatment, and many after treatment has ended. Therapy can also support people who are years past treatment and still dealing with emotional or physical effects.

Can therapy help after cancer treatment is finished?

Yes. Many people feel surprised by how difficult the period after treatment can be. Therapy can support adjustment, identity changes, lingering anxiety, fear of recurrence, and the emotional impact of what your body has been through.

Do I need to be in crisis to start cancer support counseling?

No. You do not need to be in crisis. Some people seek counseling because they feel overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, or unsure how to make sense of their experience. Therapy can offer support even when things feel manageable but heavy.

How is cancer support counseling different from support groups?

Support groups offer shared experience and connection. Individual cancer support counseling provides private, one-on-one space focused on your specific emotional needs, body responses, and personal history. Some people choose to do both.

Do you work with people who feel disconnected from their bodies after cancer treatment?

Yes. Cancer treatments can change how people experience their bodies. Somatic and body based approaches can help rebuild a sense of safety, awareness, and connection with your body over time.

Can counseling support changes in relationships after cancer?

Yes. Cancer often affects relationships with partners, family members, and friends. Therapy can help you process these changes, communicate your needs, and navigate shifts in roles and boundaries.

How do I know if cancer support counseling is right for me?

If you are feeling emotionally impacted by cancer, whether from diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, or caregiving, counseling may be helpful. A free consultation can help you decide whether working together feels like a good fit.

Cancer Support Counseling | San Rafael

Cancer Support Therapy in San Rafael CA and Online Throughout the Bay Area

Schedule your free 20 minute phone consult here

Michelle Baumgartner, Cancer Support Therapist in San Rafael CA

You just stepped out of your doctor’s office, not sure if you heard the words correctly “you have cancer.” You may feel numb or your body may be shaking. What do I do? What is next? How will I cope with all this? Facing the unknowns is frightening.

As you embark on treatment, you may feel anxious or depressed. There are very real fears you carry. Death, grief, or losing functionality. As your world is turned upside down, you may not feel like yourself anymore. You may not look like yourself anymore.

The side effects from surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or medications may have taken a toll on your body, leaving you feeling broken. Your body has not forgotten what you have been through, and you may be holding tension or numbness in parts of your body.

Even if you have gotten through the most difficult aspects of having cancer, there always seems to be more scans, tests, or another treatment or health option to consider. What if it comes back.

All of your treatment may be complete, but how do you integrate what just happened to you? You are not the same person. This experience has changed your views about life, your relationships, and what gives you meaning. You may find yourself anxious all the time, now doubting yourself and your abilities. You may have been excited about life and full of vitality, but now it is hard to find that same energy.

You want to integrate and grow from your experiences so you can feel alive, vital, and create a meaningful life. You have been managing on your own, but you cannot rely anymore on friends and family to get you through to the other side of what you are going through.

Specialized Cancer Support Therapy in San Rafael CA

Cancer support counseling provides a vital emotional anchor during the turbulence of diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. At my San Rafael practice, I offer specialized oncology therapy that focuses on regulating the nervous system and resolving medical trauma. By integrating somatic tools with traditional psychotherapy, we address the invisible symptoms of cancer, such as treatment-related anxiety and depression, and the profound shift in identity that often follows a diagnosis. Whether you are currently in treatment or navigating life as a survivor, my goal is to help you reclaim your sense of agency and find a path toward sustainable healing.

Woman with curly brown hair and warm eyes, smiling, wearing a purple shirt. Words state Michelle Baumgartner, Cancer Survivor and Chronic Illness Support Therapist in San Rafael CA — Michelle Baumgartner, Cancer Survivor Support Therapist in San Rafael CA

Compassionate Cancer Therapist San Rafael

I am Michelle, a Licensed California therapist who supports those with cancer, either in treatment or post-treatment, to cope, manage anxiety and depression, and integrate this profound experience. Your body, mind, emotions, and spirit have been through a lot, and I can help you not only to cope but to support post-traumatic growth.

If you are preparing for surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, we will use guided imagery for relaxation, support, or to enhance the effectiveness of the treatments you are receiving, or suggest hypnotherapy to support positive healing.

I can sit with you through the uncertainty, the not knowing. I can help you cope with the fear, anxiety, and grief.

Integrative Cancer Therapy in San Rafael or Online in the Bay Area

For your mind, you may need support in managing the thoughts that contribute to anxiety or depressed feelings through cognitive behavioral therapy. Or through supportive inquiry in making sense of your experience.

For your emotions, I provide a caring and compassionate space where you can express your emotions, be heard and validated as you grieve your losses. Or you may be wanting to work with newfound strengths, learn how to adapt your life, or explore how to better get your needs met and set new boundaries with others.

To discharge what is held in your body, I will support you in bringing awareness to your body sensations, regulating those sensations, or moving them out of your body so you feel relaxed, less tense, and more whole through Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. I can support you in learning to befriend and appreciate your body and accept the changes.

For the spirit, we may explore what gives you comfort, connects you to something greater than yourself, to how you see yourself and the world, or to what gives you meaning and purpose.

I can help you assess and heal changes that may have occurred in your close relationships, your career, or how you spend your time while either in cancer treatment or post treatment.

If you are facing the end of your life, I can support you to focus on what has heart and meaning, provide guided imagery or meditation, explore existential issues, and support a transition to hospice care.

Cancer Therapist San Rafael: Empowering Cancer Survivors to Cope and Heal

What makes me unique is that I use an integrative, holistic approach. Healing occurs not just through the mind or talking about an experience, but through the embodiment of that experience. I utilize mindfulness and compassion practices, guided imagery or hypnotherapy, a simple art process, and support for your connection to spirit or nature.

If you are facing a cancer diagnosis, need support during cancer treatment, or are ready to integrate and heal from your cancer experience, you need a place that honors your experiences with compassion and presence.

Contact me for a free 20-minute phone consultation. We will develop a plan that supports your healing.

Counseling Support for Cancer Caregivers in Marin County

Supporting a loved one through cancer is a marathon that often leads to deep physical and emotional exhaustion. Caregiver burnout is not just stress. It can be a form of secondary trauma that requires its own dedicated space for healing.

When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, your world shifts instantly into the role of caregiver. It is a role born of love, but it also can be one of the most physically and emotionally demanding experiences a person can endure. Often, the caregiver’s own needs are sidelined, leading to chronic exhaustion and a sense of isolation.

My practice provides a mindful, somatic-based space for caregivers in Marin to process their own fears, manage the overwhelming weight of responsibility, find sustainable tools for resilience and well-being, and navigate medical advocacy.

Accessing Cancer Support Counseling in San Rafael

What makes my work unique is that I use an integrative, holistic approach. Healing does not occur only through talking about an experience, but through supporting the whole person. This includes embodiment and nervous system regulation, mindfulness and compassion practices, guided imagery or hypnotherapy, simple creative processes, and support for your connection to meaning, spirit, or nature.

If you are facing a cancer diagnosis, are in treatment, or are working to integrate and heal from your cancer experience, you deserve a space that honors what you have been through with compassion, presence, and care.

I offer a free 20 minute phone consultation to help you determine whether working together feels like a good fit. We can talk about what you are experiencing and what kind of support would be most helpful at this point.

My other areas of focus include grief and loss, trauma therapy, somatic therapy, and women’s health and menopause related transitions.

Cancer Support Counseling FAQs

Cancer support counseling is a specialized therapy that addresses the emotional and psychological impact of a diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. It helps patients, survivors, and caregivers navigate medical trauma, anxiety, depression, and identity shifts.
Somatic therapy, along with cognitive behavioral therapy, is effective in managing anxiety and depression. It helps resolve medical trauma by processing the physical stress stored in the body after clinical procedures.
Yes. My practice also provides caregiver support online throughout Marin County, including cities such as San Rafael and Novato.
Fear of recurrence is common. Counseling focuses on learning tools to manage stress and anxiety, as well as a supportive place to process your emotions about the experience.
Oncology counseling focuses on the unique psychological and emotional effects of serious illness, grief, identity change, and working within medical systems.
No. Cancer support counseling can be helpful at many points. Some people seek support right after diagnosis, others during treatment, and many after treatment has ended. Therapy can also support people who are years past treatment and still dealing with emotional or physical effects.
Yes. Many people feel surprised by how difficult the period after treatment can be. Therapy can support adjustment, identity changes, lingering anxiety, fear of recurrence, and the emotional impact of what your body has been through.
No. You do not need to be in crisis. Some people seek counseling because they feel overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, or unsure how to make sense of their experience. Therapy can offer support even when things feel manageable but heavy.
Support groups offer shared experience and connection. Individual cancer support counseling provides private, one-on-one space focused on your specific emotional needs, body responses, and personal history. Some people choose to do both.
Yes. Cancer treatments can change how people experience their bodies. Somatic and body based approaches can help rebuild a sense of safety, awareness, and connection with your body over time.
Yes. Cancer often affects relationships with partners, family members, and friends. Therapy can help you process these changes, communicate your needs, and navigate shifts in roles and boundaries.
If you are feeling emotionally impacted by cancer, whether from diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, or caregiving, counseling may be helpful. A free consultation can help you decide whether working together feels like a good fit.