City of Hope’s Writing for Wellness classes, begun in 2001 by the department of Patient, Family & Community Education, are being featured on national teleconferences for staffs of cancer centers and wellness groups across the country.
Julie Davey, retired college writing professor and two-time cancer survivor, held the first of a series of one-hour training seminars on December 18 to help other medical and non-profit groups start Writing for Wellness classes like the ones at City of Hope.

While Davey spoke via telephone, the participants followed a Power Point presentation on their computers telling the history, techniques and philosophy of the writing therapy classes.

Davey’s just-released book “Writing for Wellness: A Prescription for Healing” for which Michael Friedman, M.D., and Lucille Leong, M.D., co-wrote the foreword, features more than 60 participants in the ongoing writing therapy class held regularly in City of Hope’s Comedy Theatre.

Writings from patients, caregivers, staff members and medical personnel from City of Hope are included in the book, which is available at the gift shop and the Positive Image Center on campus.

“Those participating in the teleconference are medical staff at cancer centers and wellness groups interested in starting groups like ours using our book as a text/guidebook for their own classes,” Davey explains. “The participants asked lots of questions and were excited about our program and its success.” The first teleconference was recorded and will be available on www.writingforwellness.net.