Sound Mental Health’s Katie Jo Glaves, marriage and family therapist in our Eastside office, shared insights during the February 4 session of the “State of Mind” conference in Issaquah. Glaves, who uses a variety of practices to engage her youth clients, gave her presentation, “Art As Therapy” at the Mary Queen of Peace Church. In attendance were youth, families and behavioral health professionals interested in exploring new ways to connect with youth.
“I discussed using art as a coping technique and as a way to help kids overcome negative thoughts,” said Glaves, after the conference. “We discussed the amount of pressure kids feel to be perfect and how art can be a way of talking about how imperfections can be beautiful.”
Sponsored by Swedish Medical Center Issaquah, the Issaquah Schools Foundation Healthy Youth Initiative and others, the State of Mind Conference is committed to addressing many mental health and substance use issues, helps to break stigma and serves as a source of information, skill development and resources for the community.
Glaves was asked to participate in the conference because of her experience and approach. Her unusual way of engaging youth, in fact, has garnered media attention recently, through ParentMap Magazine. From the Eastside offices of Sound Mental Health, she hosts a twice monthly group that uses role-playing and board games to help build social skills with youth on the autism spectrum. <<link: https://www.parentmap.com/article/special-needs-board-game-group>>.
Her presentation was so well received that conference organizers look forward to working with her again in the future.