Counseling for Chronic Illness or Cancer
TCS is bringing on a second licensed clinical social worker to offer counseling for adults living with chronic illness, chronic pain, or a cancer diagnosis. We’re currently building the caseload she needs to join us full-time, so this page is both an introduction to her work and an open invitation to be among her first clients.
Living with cancer, chronic illness, pain, or loss can change how you experience yourself, your relationships, and the world around you. You may feel overwhelmed, disconnected, uncertain, or simply tired of carrying so much. Whether you’re managing a chronic pain condition, a complex diagnosis like hEDS, POTS, or MCAS, a cancer diagnosis and everything that follows it, or the loss of what your life used to look like, that weight deserves real space.
TCS already serves adults navigating complex conditions, and this new counseling track adds dedicated mental health support alongside that care, from a clinician trained specifically in oncology social work and chronic illness. Our therapist is Oncology Social Work-Certified (OSW-C) and has worked at world-renowned hospitals in the United States, supporting individuals and families through cancer and other serious health challenges. That experience brings a deep understanding of the emotional, relational, and practical realities of diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, caregiving, grief, and uncertainty.
At the heart of her work is a warm, relational Gestalt approach. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, she meets you as a whole person to gently explore what’s happening for you in the present moment – emotionally, physically, and relationally. Together, you’ll develop greater awareness of your needs, feelings, patterns, and strengths while finding more authentic and compassionate ways to navigate difficult experiences. When helpful, she also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to offer practical tools for working through difficult thoughts, regulating intense emotions, tolerating distress, communicating needs, and managing everyday challenges.
Who This is For
- Adults managing a chronic illness or chronic pain condition (including hEDS, POTS, MCAS, and related conditions)
- Adults navigating a cancer diagnosis, treatment, or survivorship
- Parents and caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer
- Caregivers of adults – spouses, adult children, and family members supporting someone through a serious illness
- Anyone whose mental health has been shaped by living with a body that requires ongoing medical care
- People grieving losses related to health, independence, identity, relationships, or future expectations
Areas of Support
- Chronic illness and chronic pain therapy: Support in living with pain, fatigue, physical limitations, medical uncertainty, and the emotional impact of an ongoing health condition.
- Cancer-focused therapy: Compassionate support throughout diagnosis, treatment, recurrence, medical decision-making, and periods of uncertainty.
- Cancer survivorship therapy: Space to explore life after treatment, including fear of recurrence, identity changes, relationship concerns, and finding a new sense of normal.
- Support for parents of children diagnosed with cancer: A caring space to process fear, navigate difficult decisions, manage family pressures, and cope with the emotional demands of caring for a child.
- Caregiver therapy: Support for exhaustion, guilt, changing roles, boundaries, caregiver stress, and making room for your own needs.
- Grief and loss therapy: Gentle companionship through anticipatory grief, bereavement, and losses related to health, independence, identity, relationships, or future expectations.
- Depression and anxiety therapy: Help with sadness, worry, panic, overwhelm, low motivation, and feelings of isolation or disconnection.
What Counseling Will Offer
This counseling is:
- Individual counseling focused on the emotional and relational weight of chronic illness, pain, or cancer, not just symptom management
- Led by a clinician who is Oncology Social Work-Certified (OSW-C), with experience supporting individuals and families at world-renowned U.S. hospitals
- Grounded in a warm, relational Gestalt approach, with CBT and DBT tools drawn on when they’re useful
- Support for diagnosis-related grief, medical trauma, identity shifts, fear of progression or recurrence, caregiving stress, and the isolation that often comes with chronic or serious illness
- Telehealth sessions available across Pennsylvania
Therapy here isn’t about rushing toward solutions or asking you to be strong. It’s a collaborative process shaped by your experiences, needs, strengths, and pace. Together, you and your therapist can make space for what’s difficult, deepen awareness of what matters to you, and nurture greater resilience, self-compassion, and connection.
Where things stand right now
We want to be upfront with you: Our new clinician hasn’t started seeing clients at TCS yet. She’s committed to joining us, and everything on this page is what she’ll bring – but we set start dates around real, sustained need, and right now we’re building the caseload that lets us set a date we can keep.
Joining the waitlist means:
- You’ll be contacted as soon as we’re ready to begin scheduling sessions
- You’ll be among her first clients when she starts
- Your name is one of the reasons this service opens at all
- There’s no cost or commitment to add your name
We don’t have an exact launch date yet. We’re working toward opening as soon as we’re able to, and every person who joins this list moves us closer to it.You can join the waitlist below.
How Sessions Work
Sessions take place virtually over a secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. You’ll need to be physically located in Pennsylvania at the time of your session.
FAQ's
Is TCS currently accepting new clients for chronic illness or cancer counseling? Not yet. We’re building the caseload needed for our new clinician to join TCS full-time. Joining the waitlist is the best way to be contacted first once sessions begin.
What kind of therapist will I be working with? A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who is Oncology Social Work-Certified (OSW-C). She has worked at world-renowned hospitals in the United States, supporting individuals and families through cancer and other serious health challenges, and she works with adults living with chronic illness and chronic pain.
Will sessions be in person or virtual? Sessions will be offered by telehealth, available to clients located anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Does TCS treat conditions like hEDS, POTS, or MCAS? TCS already works with adults managing these conditions across our services. This new counseling track adds dedicated mental health support specifically for the emotional impact of living with them.
How is this different from general therapy? This clinician’s training is specific to chronic illness and oncology social work, so sessions are shaped around the realities of medical trauma, diagnosis-related grief, and ongoing illness, rather than applying general talk therapy to a medical situation.
Can caregivers join the waitlist, or only the person with the diagnosis? Both. Caregiver therapy is one of the areas this clinician supports – including spouses, adult children, and parents caring for a child with cancer.
What if I’m no longer in active treatment? Survivorship is very much part of this work. Cancer survivorship therapy offers space to explore life after treatment, including fear of recurrence, identity changes, relationship concerns, and finding a new sense of normal.
How do I get updates on when this launches? Join the waitlist below. We’ll reach out directly as soon as scheduling opens.