Ashe Fest Brings Together Art, Music And Mental Wellness
Ashe Fest Brings Together Art, Music And Mental Wellness
By Tia Carol Jones
Mandisa Jones founded Ashe Counseling and Coaching in 2018 to provide access to mental health services to Black people and people of color in Chicago. As a result, Ashe Counseling and Coaching is one of the largest mental health practices in the city.
“My goal is that our staff reflects Chicago and the places we are in. We have a very diverse group of clinicians, which help with the access to the mental health services we provide to people of color,” Jones said.
Jones was also a deejay. She loves music, how it brings people together and how it makes people feel good. She also loves how music can help people work through things, which for her is a common denominator between music and therapy. When she got her license, she realized that she could help support someone to feel better about their situation. Music does the same thing.
Jones wanted to create a feel-good celebration where people could connect and network, while being inspired. She created Ashe Fest to promote mental wellness. Ashe Fest will take place from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26th, at 2255 S. Michigan Ave. This is the first time for the event, which will blend arts and culture, along with discussions and resources around mental health and wellness.
Hayet Rida will be the keynote speaker for Ashe Fest. Jones said she chose Rida because she has built her brand with mental health and wellness in mind.
“She always is very vulnerable, and she speaks out. She is a champion for therapy and speaking out on mental health issues, while sharing her mental health journey. I thought that she would be a great inspiration for people to see someone who is comfortable talking about their experiences and encouragement for others to explore their own mental health journey,” Jones said.
Jones wants Ashe Fest to be a place where people can connect with mental health professionals in person, something that was lost during the pandemic when people were mostly seeking services virtually. She said it is important to celebrate because having joy is important for people’s mental well-being. She hopes that people will be inspired.
“That’s what Ashe Counseling is about. Yes, we provide therapy services, but we’re more than just that. We’re focused on the person holistically. As we’re getting out there more, we want people to feel who we are and to be able to come into that space at the event, up close and personal,” Jones said.
Jones hopes that people who attend the event will be inspired and will think about their own mental well-being, and the mental well-being of the people around them. She also hopes the event will help reduce the stigma around therapy. She wants people to realize that people who seek therapy are everyday people and she wants to see therapy normalized.
“When I think about normalizing therapy, it’s more of your everyday situations, your daily anxiety, you might have issues with your partner or issues at work, or you might have a phobia. Therapy doesn’t always mean some of the most extreme situations. That’s part of it, but when we normalize therapy, we see it might be issues you are dealing with in your everyday life,” she said.
Ashe Counseling and Coaching has two locations in Chicago. One at 1550 S. Indiana Ave., and another at 2653 N. Kedzie in the Logan Square neighborhood. There is also a location in Austin, Texas and one in New Orleans. Jones said that New Orleans has a special place in her heart, she is personally drawn there and wanted to have a location in the city. She is hoping to expand there also. With the Houston location, Jones noticed that during the pandemic a lot of Ashe’s clients were moving, and Texas was one of the places where they were relocating to. So, she wanted to provide access to therapy for people in Texas.
For more information about Ashe Counseling and Coaching, visit www.ashecc.com.
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