In 2027, Zen Shiatsu Chicago will run an in-depth clinical training in Integrative Oncology for acupuncturists and bodyworkers led by Dr. Lorbeck. These workshops are a great opportunity to get familiar with the teachers, the content, and the possibilities of Integrative Oncology.
Dr. Angela Lorbeck – DACM, MSTOM, MHP, LAc, FMCHC – brings 19 years of experience in hospital-based acupuncture for cancer, with a specialty in handling chronic pain.
Pamela Ferguson – Dipl: ABT (NCCAOM), CI (AOBTA), LMT – is a shiatsu therapist, teacher and author with extensive experience with breast cancer, including holistic support at all stages, especially post-surgical support.
Wayne Mylin – ABT (NCCAOM), AOBTA – CI – is a shiatsu therapist whose multi-decade specialty has been giving shiatsu treatment in infusion centers, and helping with long-term cancer survivorship support.
February 28 – March 1, Saturday/Sunday 12-5pm
Taught by Dr. Angela Lorbeck
10 CE hours. Hybrid (Zoom or in person): $250
A cancer diagnosis reshapes everything—for patients, partners, parents, and children. In an instant, control slips: over schedules, bodies, choices, even identity. Integrative oncology is one of the most powerful ways people regain steadiness, agency, and relief—care that feels human and clinically grounded.
The problem: across communities, there aren’t enough clinicians with specialized training to safely and skillfully provide this support. Patients struggle to find credible options. Oncology teams want trusted partners. With nearly 4 in 10 people in the U.S. facing cancer in their lifetime, the need is immense—and growing. If oncology isn’t yet part of your scope (or you want to deepen your confidence), this is your moment to serve at a higher level, stand out in your community, and step into a space of profound need and meaning.
Learn directly from Dr. Angela Lorbeck, who made history at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center as the first acupuncturist to establish an oncology acupuncture clinical program and a formal 15-week acupuncture student internship in oncology. With 19 years on the front lines and more than 18,000 patient visits, she opens the playbook to help you build confidence and competence to begin stepping into this work—safely, skillfully, and with heart.
What You’ll Gain
When cancer becomes part of the story, the people sitting across from you aren’t just patients—they’re survivors, fighters, and families searching for steadiness and skill they can trust. This training gives you that edge: the confidence to step into high-stakes care, the language that builds credibility with providers, and the clarity to expand your reach without losing your heart. This is the room to be in.
For the lives you touch today—and the ones you’ll be ready for tomorrow.
March 2-23, Mondays 9am-12pm via Zoom
Taught by Wayne Mylin
12 CE hours via Zoom $300
4 sessions, 3 hours each (total 12 hours)
This workshop is designed for Asian Bodywork Therapy and acupuncture practitioners who wish to work safely and confidently with people affected by cancer.
Rather than focusing on treatment techniques, this training emphasizes how to show up in oncology care settings with safety, trauma-informed awareness, and genuine support for patients, survivors, and caregivers.
Drawing on two decades of providing shiatsu sessions and wellness workshops in a major oncology center, Wayne distills 13 essential lessons for effective practice. Through storytelling, guided reflection, and structured experiential activities, participants will learn the mindset, presence, and professional behaviors that allow practitioners to support patients with humility, adaptability, and deep respect for their lived experience.
This workshop is designed to transform not only what practitioners know, but how they approach oncology care — helping them bring confidence, compassion, and integrity into every session.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Create a personal action plan to guide safe, ethical, and sustainable oncology care practice.
March 21, Saturday 12-5pm
Taught by Dr. Angela Lorbeck
5 CE hours. Hybrid (Zoom or in person): $125
You know the pattern: it’s 10:45 p.m. and you’re still charting. The conversation you wish had gone differently keeps looping. And the day doesn’t stay at work—what you witness follows you home: the patient gripping the chair through a wave of pain, the daughter smiling so she won’t cry. These moments don’t just disappear; they stay with you, because you’re human.
If you’ve wondered, How much longer can I do this? How do I keep caring without losing myself? — this is for you.
Join Dr. Angela Lorbeck—who made history at Rush University Medical Center (now RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center) as the first acupuncturist to establish an acupuncture oncology clinical program. With 19 years on the front lines and more than 18,000 patient visits, this evidence-based reset blends peer-reviewed research with lived experience of burnout and recovery. You’ll get clear frameworks, brief guided practices that fit between patient visits, and a simple, personal plan you can keep in real clinical flow.
You’ll also learn patient-centered presence—how compassion (not over-identification) sustains you and improves outcomes. We’ll make the empathy-versus-compassion divide practical, and you’ll leave with precise, plain-language scripts that communicate presence without draining your energy.
Burnout doesn’t just steal peace of mind—it erodes effectiveness, safety, and satisfaction. And here’s the truth: burnout doesn’t arrive all at once. It creeps in chart by chart, conversation by conversation, until one day you realize it’s taken more than you ever intended to give.
This is how you stay in the work without losing yourself. Come reset—and reclaim the purpose and power that brought you here.
April 11-12, Saturday/Sunday 9am-4pm
Taught by Pam Ferguson, Zen Shiatsu Instructor and metastatic breast cancer survivor
12 CE hours: $300
April 13 & 20, Mondays 9am-12pm
Taught by Wayne Mylin
6 CE hours via Zoom $150
2 sessions, 3 hours each (total 6 hours)
This workshop supports Asian Bodywork Therapists and Acupuncturists in expanding their awareness of oncology-focused services that can be offered in alignment with professional training, scope of practice, and ethical standards. While clinical treatments remain central to the work, Chinese medicine provides a broad foundation for additional supportive services and resources. These can benefit patients, survivors, caregivers, and oncology professionals while also diversifying offerings and strengthening practice sustainability.
The workshop is exploratory in design. Participants will examine the unique needs of oncology populations, review the business case for expanding supportive services, and explore categories of potential offerings. Through guided reflection, they will consider which services align with their personal strengths, professional goals, and ethical boundaries. Each participant will leave with a draft “service menu” to support future implementation.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Design a draft service menu that aligns with personal strengths, professional goals, and ethical guidelines.
April 25, Saturday 12-5pm
Taught by Dr. Angela Lorbeck
5 CE hours. Hybrid (Zoom or in person): $125
Oncology-safe acupuncture that patients can feel—and teams can trust.
Cancer pain isn’t just a symptom—it’s a thief. It steals sleep, function, identity, and joy. For many, it lingers long after treatment ends, turning simple tasks into daily hurdles. This is the raw human toll we meet in clinic: hands that can’t button shirts, feet that fear the first step, joints that sabotage livelihoods and dreams. Pain remains chronically under-treated. Patients are desperate for relief.
If you’ve ever wanted to do more for these patients—but weren’t sure where to start, or how to do it safely—this course is your entry point. And if you already treat people with cancer, it’s your chance to sharpen confidence, expand competence, and earn the trust of patients and oncology teams alike.
Learn directly from Dr. Angela Lorbeck—a trailblazer who made history at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center as the first acupuncturist to create an oncology acupuncture clinical program for patients. With 19 years on the front lines of integrative oncology—and more than 18,000 patient visits, the majority for pain management—Dr. Lorbeck brings unmatched expertise in the art and science of acupuncture for cancer pain. She pulls back the curtain on what works: the current evidence; oncology-safe acupuncture approaches for real-world cancer pain; the safety essentials to practice responsibly; case-based teaching from clinic; and the plain-language scripts that earn trust with oncology teams.
While the focus is acupuncture, allied health professionals and integrative providers will gain a clear understanding of where acupuncture fits, how to collaborate effectively, and how to guide patients toward credible, safe care. Shiatsu therapists will be able to translate the acupuncture understandings into their East Asian medical practice.
What you’ll gain
Walk in curious. Walk out oncology-ready — able to turn “we’ve tried everything” into “this finally helped.” Give patients back hope, sleep, and small daily wins while earning the trust of the teams who care for them.
That’s the work. That’s this course.
