The psychosocial rehabilitation through the arts programming we’ve developed has been an oasis in a vast desert of dehumanization in contemporary urban Los Angeles. My involvement with the program as a co-creator, therapist and group facilitator, have proven to be some of the most rewarding work of my life. The heart and soul of the staff, artists, children and families involved all merge to create as true a sense of community as I have witnessed in my many years in Los Angeles.

What one member of the community experiences is shared in the hearts, souls and words of the group. It is a rare village that acknowledges the resonant, inter-subjective relationship between the political and the personal. Our art, theatre, music, dances and dialogues reflect our growth as individuals, and our hope as members of our collective and separate communities. This program has redefined my understanding of community and my experience of healing.

With a multi-modal approach to mental health and community building, the therapists, case managers, artists, staff and participants of our programming collaborate to help each other engage lost memory, exchange stories of past trauma and present trials, imagine future triumphs, learn to dream once again by reviving their inner artist, dancer, musician and actor and—perhaps most importantly—remind each other how to live in a common village.

The program’s miracle is no mystery; it is rather the result of many years of fervent planning and implementation by a broad array of caring creative thinkers in the mental health community devoted to treating the heart of the human rather than focusing on the diagnostic impression of the patient.

What is a Creative Counseling Network (CCN) Group? It's all about the play time, the talk time, the supper time and the art time. It's all about what happens when a wide varied group of children and adolescents come together with professional multicultural staff that also comes from many ethnicities, experiences and specialties. It's all about the give and the take, the heart and the art. It's all about this and more, more than simple words can say. In the end, it's all about the healing of the soul. What better way then to understand it, than to see it through the eyes of a group member. Let me introduce you to “Manny.”

Manny, a 14 year old male, lives somewhere in Los Angeles. Manny was referred to an adolescent CCN Group at a time in his life when he was in deep crisis, both in his personal and academic life. The recent gang-related shooting death of his brother, his struggles to survive in a poverty ridden neighborhood filled with crime, his failing grades at school, and his history of depression and attentional deficits had left him bereft of personal strengths and the ability to cope. Manny was growing increasingly disconnected from family and friends, and edging closer to the isolation and withdrawal that is characteristic of people who eventually might resort to drug addiction or suicide as a solution.

With his emotions close to the breaking point, Manny was referred to the mental health system, and from there to the CCN Group as one part of his treatment. One very important part as it turned out. Initially guarded and ambivalent towards the group process, Manny slowly began to emerge in ways that amazed and delighted the staff as well as the other members of the group. As it turned out, Manny was an immensely talented artist, and drawing became one way for him to communicate what he was feeling and thinking. He began to enjoy the group games, the dinners together spent talking about the events of the week, and most importantly, the weekly appearances of the artists and their projects. Now he seems to drink it all in with an unquenchable thirst. Whether it is to make a Dreamcatcher, or to participate in a drumming circle, there is Manny pouring out in actions what he finds difficult saying in words. Manny continues to come to our groups, and it is my hope that there will always be a group for him to attend!

As I write this, I am thinking of one drawing that especially haunts me. In Manny's portrait of a ravaged face, which he titled "ME", we can see our own terrors played out. They are the primitive fears that follow many of us from cradle to grave. They are the terrors of grief, of loss of control, of the bugaboo that leaps out at us in our nightmares as we slowly pry back the lid and see what we are compelled to seek, yet despair of ever understanding. Something skitters across our face and we awaken on the edge of a scream, cold and trembling in the dark night. And yet, if this is the terrain of nightmares, at least we can awaken. But what of Manny? What of the artist who dreams awake, and cannot lie, and cannot push back the terrors of his own eternal sight?

For Manny, and the countless others who also feel this type of fear, loneliness and sadness, there is a small but bright beacon of light: the CCN Groups. There, Manny and the other members can face their demons, their fears and their losses. And there, with our help, many young people will vanquish these monsters. Wounds that were deemed terminal will heal, if not totally, at least enough to give back lives that might otherwise have been lost. And that is what the CCN Groups are about. And that is what they do, for more kids than you can possibly imagine.

A 12 year-old boy, “Eli,” walks in nervously. He knows that he is about to meet new people, and while part of him is excited, there is a lingering reminder that rattles through his brain saying, “They will hate you. They always do.” He tries to push this aside as he is welcomed by smiling faces engaged in a game of “Uno” as they await the arrival of others.

Eli arrived at Penny Lane a few months earlier, and at the time he was suicidal. His mother had betrayed all possible trust that is usually inherent in a care-giver. His best friend, his cat, had been murdered in front of him by his own mother in a fit of rage. In his mind, she hated him. Everybody did. Over and over, a mantra of, “why should this be any different?” played. Surprisingly for Eli, this would be different.

The Creative Counseling Network, created by Bob Brodhead and Barbara Sealy, have a Psycho-social rehab group that has been going strong in the community for the last 2 years, incorporating a unique mix of music, art, theater, poetry, and healthy physical activities, including sports and games of skill that reinforce success, teamwork, and how we deal with winning and losing. The group is broken into three parts. The first part incorporates music, and or physical games. This is followed by dinner. For many children, eating in a social setting does not occur as often as they would like, and the dining experience works as a way to practice social skills and work on interpersonal skill development with others. Dinner is followed by a talking circle that allows kids to express their feelings amongst their peers without fear of judgment, and at the same time functions as a normalizing experience and a better understanding of who they are as individuals and how we are perceived by others in this world. For many children who have grown up in an environment where they are seen and not heard, this provides a unique experience for them to be heard, and their openness with regards to opinions and feelings are validated and reinforced by the group facilitators as well as other members. The group moves on to a visual artist, which can be sculpture, painting, or drawing. Every group ends with group members connected in a circle, where they offer appreciations for the week. These can range from people who are in the group, to activities, to the weekly guest artists, or even just for the food and camaraderie of their peers.

In the case of Eli, his outcome expectancy was challenged and his reality tested. The boy who was “hated” by everyone including his mom, his teachers, and all the kids at school…Well, he wasn’t hated. His initial apprehension was replaced with a renewed sense of value in his possible contributions. Positive feedback began to flow his way, whether it was in his new hairstyle, his willingness to share feelings that previously had been repressed, his support of others, his drawing ability, his teamwork and hard play even when he wasn’t the batter, the thrower, or the person who was in front of the group trying something new for the first time. A boy in a shell began to emerge. The fragile victim who rarely smiled, can’t stop grinning and laughing these days.

It’s been unique for me to witness this change and growth. A boy who hesitated to ask for things in the past, because he always assumed the answer would be no, now sees that the answer could be yes, and tries. Once again outcome expectancy is challenged, and he realizes that his words matter and that people do respond to him.

Last week, a professional drummer joined the group, and while other members and facilitator, struggled to keep time, and count beats, Eli hit it naturally. Not only did he get positive feedback during group time, but he was pulled aside afterwards by the drummer and told, “You have the beat, it’s in you. You could be an amazing musician.” The shock on his face after he received the compliment almost brought tears to my eyes. The grin that he kept trying to hide unsuccessfully lit up the room. The drummer then gave him his pair of drumsticks. Eli’s jaw dropped. He clutched them as tight as a person could. The boy, who was “hated”, was now appreciated. He has his bad days, as we all do, but Tuesdays don’t seem to be one of them anymore.