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Dr. Dara M. Steinberg, Willow DeFilippo, Dr. Natalie Nageeb, and Dr. Heather Ginter

Three Valerie Fund Psychologists, Dara M. Steinberg, Ph.D., Columbia University Department of Pediatrics, Heather Ginter, Psy.D., Atlantic Health System’s Goryeb Children’s Hospital, and Natalie Nageeb, Psy.D., Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cancer Center, came together along with Valerie Fund patient and MA candidate in Psychology, Montclair State University, Willow DeFilippo, to present on promoting resilience in adolescents and young adults this fall.

The seminar, held on October 24th at the Maplewood Country Club, was one in an occasional series The Valerie Fund sponsors to tap into the expertise of its network on topics that benefit The Valerie Fund and general community. This year’s seminar drew health care and medical professionals, parents, grandparents, educators, and The Valerie Fund founders, Ed and Sue Goldstein.

Pediatric psychologists help children with chronic medical conditions address behavioral and emotional concerns, and are specifically trained to meet the needs of The Valerie Fund children dealing with chronic illnesses such as cancer and other blood disorders. They do everything from helping kids adjust to new diagnoses, following different treatment regimens or doctor’s instructions, helping families navigate the complex hospital systems, and helping facilitate communication between families and their medical teams. The panel addressed the developmental stages of adolescence and young adulthood; the confines of a pandemic and chronic illness; and highlighted resilience and post-traumatic growth, generating an engaging and interactive discussion.

Valerie Fund patient Willow DeFilippo moderated the question-and-answer session and provided the highlight of the evening, speaking on their experiences with resilience and demonstrating post-traumatic growth as a Valerie Fund patient and two-time cancer survivor. Willow is one of the first Bieber Family scholars, and plans to pursue a PhD in Psychology. Willow provided an educational and inspiring look into developing resilience from the perspective of a student of pediatric psychology as well as a patient. They were diagnosed with Pre-B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 11 and again with ovarian cancer in 2020, their first year at college. Willow’s presentation opened with a real-world example of developing resilience and what the human body and brain can cope with when learning and processing situations like learning how to drive a car.

“The Valerie Fund tries very hard to make sure your world does not shrink that much. When your world shrinks to just that hospital floor, they do everything they can to make sure you still experience everything,” Willow explained, adding examples like wheeling the IV pole out to the courtyard to do the Coke and Mentos experiment. The Valerie Fund brought the world closer and ensured that there were plenty of good memories to live alongside the difficult memories of going through cancer twice.

“Cancer at 11 years old and again at 18. How do you live the rest of your life when you’ve already been through that? Willow’s insight is to practice radical acceptance. Fully accept the moment for what it is. You don’t have the power to change it, you only have the ability to continue moving forward.”