Agenda Overview
8:30–9:30 a.m. Breakfast & Check-In
9:30–9:45 a.m. Welcome Remarks
9:45–10:45 a.m. How Cancer Treatment Affects Your Body & Intimacy
10:45–11:00 a.m. Wellness Break
11:00–11:45 a.m. Resilient & Radiant: Coping with Change, Embracing Self-Worth, and Reclaiming Intimacy
11:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Closing Remarks
Midwest Region Ovarian Cancer Community Education | Saturday, June 28, 2025
Hosted by the Midwest Region of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC), this program offers understanding, support, and practical guidance for ovarian cancer patients on how their diagnosis and treatment can cause physical and emotional transformations that can impact their body image, self-esteem, and intimacy. Together, we will explore ways to manage symptoms, build confidence, and foster meaningful communication with partners. This program is focused on helping survivors discover a hopeful path forward.
Breakfast will be provided. This program is complimentary to ovarian cancer survivors. Due to the sensitive and intimate nature of the topic, only ovarian cancer survivors are permitted to attend.
Date: Saturday, June 28, 2025
Location: Avenue East, 160 E. Illinois Street, Chicago, IL
Time: 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Space is limited—RSVP today to secure your spot!
Anita Owens
Midwest Regional Manager
Midwest Region of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
Serving: IA, IL, IN, KY, MO and TN
For more information, contact Anita Owens at 312-226-9410 or aowens@ovarian.org.
This session will focus on the mental and emotional impact cancer has on you and your relationships. We will discuss how this journey to recovery affects your relationship with yourself and with others, including changes in body image, self-esteem, and intimacy. The presentation will offer guidance on navigating these shifts and provide ways to reconnect with your body and reclaim your femininity during and after treatment.
Resilient & Radiant: Coping with Change, Embracing Self-Worth, and Reclaiming Intimacy
Together, we will explore the sexual and emotional changes that can result from cancer treatment. Presenters will guide you through strategies to reconnect with your body, boost self-confidence, and rediscover pleasure. Topics will include tools to improve communication with partners, supportive products and couple-based interventions, and the role of mindfulness in nurturing self-worth and intimacy. This presentation offers a compassionate space to reflect, learn, and feel empowered.
Alexandria Callahan, PhD, LCPC, BC-DMT, GLCMA
Manager, Behavioral Health
City of Hope
Alexandria Callahan is the manager of the Behavioral Health department at City of Hope Chicago, where she helps patients cope with challenges around body image, trauma, and communication and intimacy with partners, and assists them in reconnecting and redefining themselves through movement. She joined City of Hope in 2009.
Alexandria's passion for movement and fascination with how the human body works assisted her in delving deeper into the mind-body connection and the role played by both in emotional experiences. Pursuing her PhD in Clinical Sexology has enabled her to further assist her patients in maintaining their quality of life throughout and after cancer treatment.
Callahan holds a PhD in Clinical Sexology from Modern Sex Therapy Institutes and is an AASECT certified sex therapist. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and earned a Master of Arts degree in dance/movement therapy and counseling from Columbia College in Chicago, followed by a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis (GLCMA) from the school. The GLCMA program teaches students how to apply movement analysis in a therapeutic and artistic setting. As an undergraduate she completed an internship at Dance Base in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she directed dance classes for individuals with physical and mental disabilities ranging in age from 4 to 96.
Cynthia Ingram, BS, RN, HN-BC, COHN-S
Registered Nurse, Sexual Health
City of Hope
Cynthia Ingram joined City of Hope Chicago in 2004 as a registered nurse, where she is responsible for assessing the sexual health needs of patients and promoting a quality sexual wellness program and services for patients and caregivers.
Noting that intimacy and sexuality are an important part of our own identity as an individual and as a couple, Ingram helps to integrate sexual health expertise into patients’ cancer care teams and develops opportunities to expand sexual health services into other areas of cancer care and community services.
Ingram is an AASECT certified sex counselor and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in health arts from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She is a chapter leader for the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) in Northeast Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin and a member of the American Association of Occupation Health Nurses (AAOHN). Prior to her current position, Ingram led the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at City of Hope Chicago.
