{"id":2450211,"date":"2019-10-22T23:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T05:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play\/"},"modified":"2019-10-22T23:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T05:04:00","slug":"aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Strong symposium focuses on power of play"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7035830618893\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-314831-495\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Keyon Dooling, center, speaks to an audience about mental health while Lady Fuller, left, Christina King talk backstage while stage manager Jessie Douglas monitors the event during the 5th annual Changing Brains Changing Lives symposuium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"16\">\n<p><strong>Keyon Dooling, center, speaks to an audience about mental health while Lady Fuller, left, Christina King talk backstage while stage manager Jessie Douglas monitors the event during the 5th annual Changing Brains Changing Lives symposuium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Keyon Dooling, center, speaks to an audience about mental health while Lady Fuller, left, Christina King talk backstage while stage manager Jessie Douglas monitors the event during the 5th annual Changing Brains Changing Lives symposuium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Keyon Dooling speaks to an audience about his personal journey with mental health during the Changing Brains Changing Lives Symposium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Keyon Dooling speaks to an audience about his personal journey with mental health during the Changing Brains Changing Lives Symposium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/mentalhealth-atd-102319-1-1.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Keyon Dooling speaks to an audience about his personal journey with mental health during the Changing Brains Changing Lives Symposium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The message Tuesday night was simple: \u201cAll of the aspen trees within this grove are connected by one root system. No one stands alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That was the ideal local mental health counselor and Aspen Strong founder Christina King expressed to kick off the fifth annual Changing Brains, Changing Lives Symposium at the Wheeler Opera House.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The community event, spearheaded by King\u2019s Aspen Strong nonprofit \u2014 which aims to act as a connector among locals, professionals, businesses and all of the mental health resources available in the Roaring Fork Valley \u2014 focused on the role of play as a vital part of human development, communication and mental hygiene for people of all ages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe should never stop playing,\u201d said Georgie Wisen-Vincent, play therapist, managing director and head of faculty for The Play Strong Institute in California. \u201cA healthy community begins with the experiences that we share with our children that are loving, intentional and joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Wisen-Vincent was one of the presenters at Tuesday night\u2019s roughly two-hour symposium. She gave attendees the science behind play, showing images of the brain and how playful activity affects it, while also showing real life examples of how creative thinking can help kids specifically cope with traumatic events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cPlay has an enormous potential for communication and healing because it\u2019s children\u2019s natural language of their own development,\u201d Wisen-Vincent said to symposium attendees. \u201cOften what kids can\u2019t say through words they can say through play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But kids aren\u2019t the only ones who can benefit from the creativity and freedom that comes with play. After her presentation, Wisen-Vincent sat in on the seven-person symposium panel that looked at what play means for adults and how it can create healthier families and communities as a whole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She and guests, including Keyon Dooling, former NBA player and certified life coach, and Cherise Northcutt, a leading California-based clinical psychologist, started the discussion by talking about what play meant to them personally alongside locals Greg Poschman, Pitkin County Commissioner; Jayne Gottlieb, founder of the Aspen Shakti yoga studio; Sean Van Horn, mountain endurance athlete; and Stephen Sherer, founder and CEO of ISVERA, a lifestyle clothing brand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think we\u2019re under the misconception that healing only takes place in the therapist\u2019s office,\u201d Northcutt said. \u201cI\u2019m a therapist and I believe in therapy, but I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s for everybody and I don\u2019t believe therapy happens only that one hour a week. \u2026 What\u2019s happening the other 167 hours in the week? How are you trying to heal your brain from whatever you\u2019re trying to heal it from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Overall, the panelists kept returning to the idea of simple tasks like walking, running, game nights with family, being polite to others, keeping in touch with friends and physically touching another person as forms of play, healing and ways to open the door for conversations around deeper feelings related to mental well-being.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere becomes a clarity when you allow yourself to let go of stressful thoughts,\u201d Sherer said of play in his life. \u201cWhen I\u2019m facing an obstacle with my work, sometimes something as simple as a walk outside or a run or something where you can just kind of let go of what you\u2019re worried about creates a capacity for you to come up with the solution naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But outside of discussing play and its therapeutic effects on mental hygiene for all ages, the panelists and presenters also addressed the elephant on the stage with them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Four people <a id=\"N0x20c59e0N0x2074a70:N0x20c59e0N0x20e9f10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/recent-rfv-suicide-cluster-prompts-concern\/\">have died by suicide in the Roaring Fork Valley over the past month<\/a>, including three deaths in a five-day period, and there was an overwhelming sense that many locals felt at a loss of what to do in response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSometimes these conversations can be a little bit difficult,\u201d said Dooling, who acknowledged that he\u2019d heard of the recent suicides. \u201cAnxiety is on the rise, depression is on the rise, people are dwelling in anger. We\u2019ve got to heal. We\u2019ve got to do our work to show healthy examples of redemption.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">During Dooling\u2019s presentation, he talked about his own healing after spending years of his life suppressing the sexual abuse he experienced as a child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dooling said he had to hit rock bottom, which aligned with deciding to end his 13-year NBA career and hiding from his emotions, before he could start his healing and address his mental hygiene, which he referred to as his \u201cwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Now, Dooling is a motivational speaker and certified life coach and has helped over 50 NBA players seek out therapy for the first time in their lives over the past year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cA lot of times we suffer in silence because we think our network and our family and our friends and our infrastructure won\u2019t be there for us,\u201d Dooling said. \u201cI was wrong about that. They want to be there to support us when they can, they want to be able to contribute in a positive way when you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At the end of the panel discussion and presentations, King took to the Wheeler stage one more time to encourage attendees to continue the conversation sparked that night in hopes of helping locals who may be struggling or unsure of how to address their own mental well-being feel less alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhatever resonated with you tonight, keep talking about it. Talk about it with your friends, talk about it at home, talk about it with your families and just keep the conversation going,\u201d King said. \u201cThe more we talk, the more we\u2019re connected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:mvincent@aspentimes.com\">mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-strong-symposium-focuses-on-power-of-play\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keyon Dooling, center, speaks to an audience about mental health while Lady Fuller, left, Christina King talk backstage while stage manager Jessie Douglas monitors the event during the 5th annual Changing Brains Changing Lives symposuium at The Wheeler on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Keyon Dooling speaks to an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2450211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 12:14:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}