The University of Arizona Alumnus / Fall 2007
Living on Dream Street
Alice J. Abramson Steinfeld ’75 ’78 ’79
by Jennifer Rich
How does a seasoned therapist deal with the heartbreak of treating young adults who have chronic or terminal illnesses?
On a summer’s day 15 years ago, Alice Steinfeld, a behavioral health therapist, was surprised to see a group of young campers on the luxurious grounds of Canyon Ranch Resort in Tucson. She soon learned they were part of Dream Street, a free summer program that allows young people with serious or terminal illnesses to briefly escape their complex lives and medical problems.
Steinfeld eagerly signed on to volunteer with the campers. The work is rewarding, she says, but challenging both professionally and personally.
“The hardest part is hearing what these young people have gone through and how so many of them have chunks of their lives taken away,” she says. “I grow to love these young people. When any of them gets sick or dies, that’s heartbreaking. On the other hand, these kids teach me about laughing, loving, enjoying life, and prioritizing. It is — believe it or not — uplifting.”
At Dream Street, two different groups of young people, 18 to 22 years old, stay in the ranch casitas for a week. Flown in from around the world, they get the same posh treatment that the paying spa guests do: massages, yoga, tai chi lessons, swimming, tennis, stretch workouts, and other spa amenities. And they continue to get their medical treatments in an environment where none of them sits on the sidelines or has reason to feel different.
“Canyon Ranch underwrites their stay at the ranch, the Dream Street Foundation pays for all their flights, the shirts that we wear, and all the amenities given to the campers,” says Steinfeld.
The Dream Street staff, approximately equal in number to the camper population, includes nurses, doctors, and therapists. All of them, including Steinfeld, work for free.
“It’s probably the two weeks out of the summer that I love the most. I feel so fortunate just to be a part of the circle of Dream Street. The amazing people who devote themselves to Dream Street and come every year — many of them have been involved for 20 years. They’ve become like family, so I love to be there with them all,” she says.
Steinfeld conducts therapy sessions that address the Dream Streeters’ transition into adulthood as well as the daily challenges they face, given the impediments of their diseases. Focus groups encourage participants to share their feelings and fears.
“I love the focus groups at night. Everybody gets cozy, and they talk about what’s really going on for them deep down inside. It’s where we get to know each other. The room is filled with lots and lots of tears and incredible love, support, tenderness, and friendship. ”
Ever since childhood, Steinfeld wanted to be a therapist.
“I’ve always been interested in people, probably because I was the youngest in my family and often had to talk my way in and out of things,” she says. “My father died unexpectedly of a heart attack my freshman year of college, and then my mother died from cancer in my early 30s. Those two experiences probably steered me in the direction of working with people with loss and grief.”
Steinfeld earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the UA, along with two master’s degrees — one in education, the other in counseling and guidance. After graduating from the UA, Steinfeld worked with a group of psychologists, tutoring adults and children with reading and learning problems. Even after she went back for her master’s, she continued to tutor. She loves to be around young people, including college students.
“These people are studying, learning, and growing. My dream would be to travel to different campuses all across the country. I love the whole idea of college life.”
A member of Delta Delta Delta sorority at the UA, Steinfeld holds her alma mater in a sentimental place in her heart.
“Whenever I’m feeling really stressed, I’ll go run around the campus and, within an hour, I’ll just remember all the memories that I have. Probably for the last eight out of 10 birthdays, when my husband says, ‘I’ll take you anywhere you want to go for dinner,’ I choose to go down to University
Boulevard and eat at one of the restaurants around the campus. On my 50th birthday, I invited about 10 of my friends and we ate wraps at one of the restaurants on University, and then we walked all around the campus. We went to the planetarium and to my sorority house,” she says.
Interacting with people is her favorite part of her therapy work. “Having the privilege of hearing and, hopefully, understanding the intimacies in people’s lives, what they feel, and how they develop emotionally, and, certainly, getting to know the people I work with are the best parts of my job,” she says.
Steinfeld tries to guide her patients to use rules she follows herself.
“Take one day at a time. I use the word healthy a lot, referring to a healthy mind and body, and being in a healthy relationship. I also help people understand what functional healthy relationships are about,” Steinfeld adds.
Individuals, she says, should try to separate their genetic and personal traits from outside situations over which they have no control. “I try to understand how each person’s mind works in terms of how they define themselves, their relationships, and the world that they’re in. The combination of genetic makeup, emotional disposition, and situational reactions emotionally color the way we see our world. And I try to help them integrate that into a realistic sense of who they are and how they can live their life with the highest quality and in the healthiest way.”
The Dream Street campers are shining examples of Steinfeld’s guiding principles.
“One of the most important things I’ve learned from my patients is that people are very, very resilient.
“My goal is to be very present and available for the patients that I work with — to be as responsive, honest, compassionate, real, and clear as I can be. I work hard to balance listening to what they say clinically and as another sensitive human being.”
And even though she works in a profession that often must address the dark and troubled side of human nature, Steinfeld says she can still see the positive.
“As I work with people who know that their time on Earth is limited — I think they just become wiser, stronger, and brighter,” Steinfeld says. “I oftentimes think we should all live like tomorrow may be our last day.”
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