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The Tenafly psychotherapist is a mother, wife and businesswoman — all roles that were shining even brighter following her 2011 diagnosis, and throughout her year-long battle.
“I kind of see myself as someone who had breast cancer,” she said. “That’s not what defines me.”
Graf was in the process of building an integrative medicine center in Englewood Hospital when she was diagnosed.
She used integrative medicine — acupuncture, massage, yoga and Reiki therapy — to heal her body, mind and soul.
“It’s ironic that all of that went down at the same time,” she said. “Integrative medicine helped speed my recovery and make everything much more tolerable.”
Integrative medicine works with traditional medicine to increase the immune system, decrease depression, lower anxiety and cortisol levels, Graf said.
Almost three years into remission, Graf saw her dream come to fruition: The Graf Center for Integrative Medicine opened in Englewood Hospital in October 2015.
Not losing sight of her roles as a psychotherapist, a mother, a wife and a businesswomen all helped show Graf the light at the end of the cancer tunnel.
“Don’t go through it alone,” she said. “Get as much help from healers and women who’ve been through it as possible.”
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