Spilled Ink
What Parents Need To Know
Hello parents, my name is Ryan. I am a graduate of Olds High School and have gone on to practice energy healing, work with high-risk youth, and am currently studying at the Institute of Shamanic Medicine. For the past 4 years, I have worked front line with individuals in deep emotional crisis struggling with suicide, self-harm, sexual assault, homelessness, addictions, grief, and trauma.
Growing up in Olds, I always struggled to find my place in our small town. As a teenager, I had a lot to say, but I never felt as if anyone really heard me... so I got quiet. Most people don't understand the impact that that kind of quiet has on an individual. The scream of voices in your head, but nowhere for them to go. When we hold onto those words, that expression of ourselves and our needs, that energy, it gets stuck. If we don't let those words out, that space in your throat fills up, it spills out into the rest of your body. It churns your stomach, it uses your heart as a punching bag, it floods your muscles, and drowns you in your own unspoken truths. Holding onto this kind of energy has very real repercussions not only on your mental health, but emotionally, spiritually, and physically as well.
To move this stagnant energy, we need to activate our voice. To speak all the truths and all the hurts that we have held inside. To be heard in all our authenticity. We have to let if flow. The spoken word holds immense power and so too does the written word. Poetry opens the door to our power by allowing us to reclaim our voice and our space on this Earth.
Our society has never had such a spike in suicide since the great depression. There has never been such high volumes of eating disorders, mood disorders, mental illness as a whole. It is not simply that people are more willing to talk about it these days, the Earth is sick and it is spilling out into our youth who are so deeply connected. There is a great awakening taking place. More and more young people are feeling the need to move through the heaviness in the air. I know the weight they carry and will help them acknowledge that so much of the pain that they are experiencing is not theirs to hold and walk along side them as they feel and let flow.
What Does the Group Look Like
Spilled Ink will run out of Olds High School every Monday from 3:30pm - 4:30pm.
During our meetings, we will read, write, and share poetry with one another.
The focus of this group is on creating community and feeling the power of voice rather than technical writing.
Investment
$125/semester
or
$10/drop in
There will be 17 meetings in the upcoming 2023 semester. This comes to just over $7 a meeting.
Due to the sensitive content that may come up in our discussions, information shared in group will be kept confidential. Should a youth disclose information regarding harm to themselves or others, I will contact parents. Any other topics of concern will be brought to the school wellness worker to provide additional support to the youth.
Extra Support
Finding a community in which you are able to safely express yourself is extremely healing in and of itself, but sometimes, the hurt goes deeper. Sometimes, we don't even know how deep it goes until we start unpacking.
I do not provide counseling. I create space for youth to let their walls down. To allow themselves to spill into caring hands. To know that they are not alone in this. That this moment, this pain, does not define them. That they are so much more than their experiences, than their thoughts. Through knowledge I have gained in my own lived experience and flow of energy, I guide them through the struggle to finally release what they have been holding onto.
For any youth that needs extra support, I am available outside of the Spilled Ink group for 1-on-1 peer support and energy healing sessions.
If you would like to explore 1-on-1 support please contact me directly.