A pair of local agencies recently partnered together to highlight a new therapeutic technique that helps individuals, especially teenagers, visualize and vocalize their emotions, traumas and thoughts.
Saturday, Beacon For Hope Suicide Prevention and Bloom House Youth Services teamed together to present Dump Suicide: Staying Alive 101 inside of the Emporia Granada Theatre. The name of the event came from the term “Brain dumping,” a therapeutic technique that includes journaling or using artwork to help verbalize and visualize one’s thoughts and feelings.
Emporia State University Art Therapist student Kirsten Brooks says this technique is especially effective for teenagers who are going through several physical and mental changes on top of their everyday stressors.
Beacon for Hope Director Melissa Owen tells KVOE News they had right around a dozen teens turn out for the event. She says while it may seem like a small number, they were aiming for quality rather than quantity with the event.
Owen adds that Saturday’s event was a highlight of how treatment for mental health and depression is continuing to evolve regularly.
In addition to allowing individuals to express themselves and their feelings during the event, Dump Suicide also showcased how self-care is continuing to evolve and grow. Dump Suicide is just one of several events on the calendar for Beacon in the coming months.
The agency is getting set for its inaugural Rage Against the Stigma: Men’s Mental Wellness event in Peter Pan Park on Saturday, July 20. That will be followed by the fourth annual Celebrities in Disguise fundraising event at the Granada Theatre in September and the third annual Hope with Horsepower Car Show benefiting veteran mental health services in October.
Meanwhile, Bloomhouse will be hosting a Marvel vs DC trivia night next Friday, May 21 at 301 West 11th Avenue at 5:30 pm. For more information find Bloomhouseks.org, Hopelinks.org or find Bloom House and Beacon For Hope on Facebook.
