DFCI Zakim Center

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  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.
    *These programs are open to Dana-Farber patients and caregivers.



    Jewelry Making with the MFA – Join us this July to bedazzle yourself with handmade jewelry. Inspired by the design and history of some incredible pieces in the jewelry collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, we’ll create our own brooches and pins using small paper collages. Dress up your clothes, lanyards, and bags with some unique jewelry made by you!

    If you missed our jewelry workshop in February or you want to make even more jewelry, this workshop is for you! This workshop will be a variation of our last jewelry workshop. We will use similar materi...
  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.
    *These programs are open to Dana-Farber patients and caregivers.
    Please note that registration for the June workshops are at capacity and now closed.

    Paint by Number – Unleash your inner artist in this relaxing Blue Poppies Paint-by-Numbers workshop! Enjoy the calming, therapeutic act of painting without needing to create the design yourself. With a pre-outlined canvas and a provided color palette, you can focus on the joy of placing color and painting on canvas. Whether you're new to painting or just want to unwind, this session lets you enjoy the process in creative community. Finished pieces are perfect for gifting or display...
  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.

    Please note that registration for the May workshops are at capacity, but please email if you would like to be added to the waitlist.





    Musical Instruments with the MFA – Uplift your spirit with a delightful workshop that features the musical instrument collection at the Museum of Fine Arts. We’ll view a variety of instruments and listen to what they sound like, then we’ll decorate and create our very own thumb pianos. The thumb pianos are small enough that you can carry them with you during the day for some pleasant musical interludes!

    Wednesday, May 21, from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET


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  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.

    Please note that registration for the April workshops are at capacity and now closed.






    Bookmaking: Pamphlet Stitch Books with the MFA– Join us for a fun and creative bookmaking workshop inspired by two exhibits currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts that feature books. We’ll take a look at work from Robert Frank: Mary’s Book and also books that John Wilson created illustrations for in Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson. Together, we’ll learn a simple stitching method of bookbinding so that you can create books filled with your own creative ideas and inspiration!
    *Please let us know if you ...
  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.

    Please note that registration for March workshops are at capacity and now closed.







    Sculpture with the MFA – Join us for a fun workshop inspired by the amazing diversity of sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts. Sculpture is an art form with an incredible amount of variety and versatility. We’ll explore a range of sculptural pieces for inspiration and then we’ll create our own masterpieces with air-dry clay. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to relax and let your hands enjoy the creative wonders of working with clay. Once your masterpiece is dry, you can add color and details with acrylic paints....
  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.
    Please note that registration for the February workshops are at capacity and now closed. Please email us to be added to a waitlist.




    Jewelry Making with the MFA – Join us for a dazzling workshop inspired by the jewelry collection at the Museum of Fine Arts. Jewelry has been used throughout history as a way to artistically express and adorn oneself. We will look at jewelry featured in the Beyond Brilliance exhibition as well as some other pieces currently on display. Inspired by the design, history, and culture of these fascinating pieces, we will create pendants for necklaces using our own small paper collages. If you’ve...
  • Description: Explore how creative arts activities can support relaxation to help you feel better and connect with others in the Dana-Farber community by joining the Zakim Center's monthly Creative Arts Online Workshops via Zoom. Materials will be provided and no experience is necessary to participate, but space is limited and registration is required.



    Dragon Fold Origami Books with the MFA – Join us for a fun and creative bookmaking workshop inspired by Asian artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts. This workshop features a style of bookmaking that uses simple folded paper techniques for binding rather than sewing techniques. Create one-of-a-kind books that unfold in elegant shapes and colors, and fill them with your own ideas and inspiration using drawing and collage materials. Whether you’re new to bookmaking or an experienced bookmaker, these books will absolutely delight you! 
    *Please let us know if you need us to send you scissors.

    Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 11 a.m. – 12:3...
  • Description: Mind Body Studio Policies



    1. Starting April 28, 2025: Wearing a face mask at Dana-Farber is optional if you do not have cold or flu symptoms and you have not had a recent COVID-19 exposure.  Learn more about preparing for a visit to Dana-Farber.
    Use these directions to find us from the screening area on the first floor of Dana-Farber’s Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

    2. Pre-registration on MyZakim is required and limited to 11 participants per class in order to ensure adequate physical spacing.

    Please register for class ahead of time on our online platform, MyZakim. You must have an account to register. Sign up for an account here if you don’t already have one and allow at least one business day for activation. Use the Class Schedule to search for and sign up for class!

    3. Please arrive no more than 10 minutes before class to allow time to sign in and set up. We allow late arrivals up to 10 minutes after the start of class. This policy is strict...
  • Description:
    Ting Bao, MD, MS, was working in a Washington, D.C.-based acupuncture clinic after her junior year in college when she first saw up close how much this ancient Chinese practice – as well as herbal supplements – could help individuals during cancer treatment. The experience made a deep impression on Bao, as did something several clinic patients confided in her. 

    This was the late 1990s, when acupuncture, herbal supplements, and other integrative therapies like Reiki and meditation were offered in very few United States health-care centers. The patients were frustrated, they told Bao, by the lack of knowledge among oncologists about the potential benefits of these modalities in easing treatment-related pain, nausea, and other cancer-related side-effects. 

    “Patients just had to find and try integrative therapies on their own while their doctors focused on giving them chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery,” recalls Bao. “They said they needed guidance.” 

    In that ...
  • Description: We are so excited to announce that, beginning Monday, April 24, we’ll resume some in-person exercise classes at our Mind Body Studio in the Zakim Center on Dana-Farber’s Longwood campus! Please read below for studio policies and the new class schedule!
    Mind Body Studio Policies
    1.  On the day of class and before arriving to Dana-Farber, you must complete the COVID-19 prescreening on your smartphone using this link > https://prescreen.massgeneralbrigham.org/  You will receive a digital pass which you’ll be asked to show at the screening area during check-in on the first floor of Dana-Farber’s Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. If you do not have a smartphone or can’t access the app, security will help you complete the screening process when you arrive.

    Use these directions to find us from the screening area on the first floor of Dana-Farber’s Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. Please allow enough time to complete the screening process and make your way to the studio....
  • Description:




    Dr. Jennifer Ligibel, Director of the Zakim Center (left) with Dr. David Rosenthal (middle) previous Director of the Zakim Center, and his wife Judy (right).




    For many New Englanders, apple picking is a yearly ritual marking the arrival of fall. In the case of the staff, patients, and friends of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at Dana-Farber, a recent visit to the orchard also provided a chance to celebrate - and support - an integral part of cancer care.

    They were gathered on a recent sunny Saturday at Belkin Lookout Farm in Natick, Mass. for the Zakim Center’s annual Music Heals the Soul fundraiser. In addition to experiencing the healing power of music through a live performance by Savage Pianos, attendees enjoyed food and drinks, chair massages and ear acupuncture from Zakim practitioners, do-it-yourself mug painting and slime making, and a trip to the farm’s orchard for fresh-from-the-tree app...
  • Description:

    There are times when dealing with cancer - or any of life’s myriad challenges - can feel overwhelming. Emotions run high, and energy low. Situations seem hopeless.


    It is during such moments that a growing number of Dana-Farber patients, caregivers, and staff turn to lessons and techniques learned from Patricia Martin Arcari, PhD, RN. As program manager for Meditation and Mindfulness at the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living, Arcari creates and leads individual and group-based classes and programs to help build skills in stress management and resiliency. Her offerings include a Mind-Body Resilience Program for patients and caregivers, a similar program for staff, several weekly drop-in staff- and patient-only meditation sessions, and a Mind-Body Book Discussion where patients discuss books reflecting the principles of mind-body resilience and integrative health.

    Due to the compounded stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic and th...