The women of Ground Well getting ready to hit the water. Photo courtesy of Ground Well Community Project.
By Evelyn Rodriguez, Staff Reporter.
The amount of people who suffer from mental health-related issues has grown over the years, with social media becoming the number one thing in people’s lives.
Anxiety, depression, physical/sexual, and mental abuse, a form of manipulation and control, are some of the top health issues people deal with on a daily basis–some people struggle with these conditions at a higher rate than others.
These conditions stem from everyday life, social issues, as well as school or work. Hopkins Medicine depicts that about 26%, one in four people suffer from mental health issues.
Ground Well Community Project, an organization that offers therapeutic programs to help women overcome trauma, abuse, depression, and anxiety, wants to extend its assistance to the CSUDH community.
“Our Surf Therapy programs are small, intentional, and intersectional spaces for womxn to reclaim their healing, power, and belonging in the sea together,” Natalie Small, founder of Ground Well, said.
The program length is about eight weeks and incorporates small group surf therapy, which is led by those volunteering for the organization. Other program options include a single-day surf therapy program and surf therapy retreats, which are therapy practices that build self-awareness, emotional regulation, interpersonal skills, and resilience while also enhancing your surf skills.
Waves of grief, meetings that are meant to support the increased communal experience of grief triggered by COVID-19, and sea and sand sister circles, additional health support groups for women who have completed the eight-week program which includes drop-in meetings, are additional offerings of the program.
Maria Lopez, a 19-year-old biology student, plans to join the program, not only to learn how to surf but to also get help with the anxiety and stress that she has experienced as a first-year student at CSUDH. “I think it’ll be a great experience since I have never heard of a program like this,” Lopez said.
According to Leah Austin, the program manager for the Los Angeles area of Ground Well, 39 students from CSUDH signed up to be part of the program.
With programs in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area, Ground Well intends to help women get back on their feet, and move on from traumatic experiences they have faced in the past.
According to Small, the Orange County and Los Angeles locations still have room for eight women if they are interested in joining. For more information about the organization, you can visit their website or email them at info@groundswellcommunity.org.
