High Schoolers Tackle Mental Health Stigma Through ‘Therapicasso’ Art Nonprofit

By Jaimie Ding, Editor

For Mark Keppel High School juniors Gabrielle Wong and Joshua Ferriere, deciding to start a nonprofit together was a no-brainer.

In the aftermath of the Monterey Park shooting last January, the two identified mental health as a major issue for the community to grapple with.

Together, they founded Therapicasso, an organization focused on using art to better mental health and promoting mental health literacy through programs and workshops.

They have organized a youth board consisting of members from all around the San Gabriel Valley and even one from Orange County, but their focus is Alhambra. The local Alhambra community is just the first step to reaching communities beyond the region.

“Joshua and I, we knew that something had to be done about this especially with intergenerational stigma,” Wong said. “We realized that our unique role as high school students, especially as community members and advocates, was that we could touch the hearts and minds of the younger generation or even the older generations.”

The two have been best friends since freshman year of high school, when they sat at the same table and discovered they had similar birthdays, interests, and music tastes. From that very first conversation, they discussed questions like: “What do we want to do together for our community?” said Ferriere.

They both interned for Assemblymember Mike Fong and participated in his Young Leaders Program, where they were able to get the resources they needed to learn how to form a nonprofit.

Their biggest struggle? Paperwork.

The teens had to navigate figuring out IRS tax forms, filing articles of incorporation with the state, creating a bank account for a nonprofit, and more.

“We called the IRS for the first time then, right?” said Ferriere. “Oh yeah, you can imagine we never got a call back,” quipped Wong.

Both are also immensely busy with school and other extracurriculars, competing in speech and debate tournaments, Wong participating in Get Lit slam poetry competitions, and Ferriere on the tech theater team, but Therapicasso is a huge priority for them.

“I found that having a passion and doing something for the community is very fulfilling for yourself,” said Ferriere.

Wong and Ferriere have a partnership that makes sense – Wong is more focused on the art side, with their slam poetry background, while Ferriere focuses on the psychology side. He’s on the California Teen Advisory board for Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit focused on shining a light on stigmas surrounding mental health.

“Art is just a great way to express your emotions, your feelings, and just whatever you're thinking without actually necessarily using common words,” Ferriere said.

Wong added: “Because oftentimes people don't have the tools to express how they feel about their mental health and art is a tool that doesn't require verbalizing.”

“Especially in a community that's heavy on taboos and stigma such as our own. It's just good to give younger generations the tools, coping mechanisms, and just ways to express themselves that they might not get in their households or learn at school,” finished Ferriere.

They often finish each other’s sentences and thoughts, but make sure the other has the chance to speak. They’re also able to disagree and frequently challenge each other’s ideas, which might look like arguing but more closely resembles siblings’ bickering.

Many of their workshops teach fellow students how to reflect on their emotions and check in on their mental health.

One event, called “Rise, Reclaim, Restore,” featured tea bags representing different emotions and conversations about those emotions. Another event taught students how to use origami stars as a way to keep track of their general moods over time by filling up a jar and putting in a different color star everyday, a “physical manifestation” of journaling, Wong said.

Wong’s favorite event has been an open mic program where they helped students think more about their own identities through poetry prompts. Most recently, they held a tote bag painting event, hosted with the Monterey Park Hope Resiliency Center, where they had discussions about destigmatizing mental health and the harmful effects of masking your true feelings.

They’ve received funding from the Alhambra Educational Foundation, the Grip Tape youth program, and other local organizations.

Wong and Ferriere also see Mark Keppel as a place with particularly high mental health needs due to how competitive the school is. One reason could be the school’s large concentration of students who have parents from immigrant backgrounds that hold high aspirations for their children’s futures, Wong said.

Students compete over how many extracurriculars they are involved in and how many AP classes they’re taking, which they see as critical to getting into a good college.

Both Wong and Ferriere felt this immense pressure when selecting courses sophomore year; there’s a strong stigma against people taking “regular” classes rather than AP classes.

The bigger issue, however, is how students are dealing with these pressures.

“A lot of times, we talk to our peers and they've shared a common metaphor of shoving all these emotions into a small little box, just putting it away in the corner of your mind,” Ferriere said.

Particularly in the Asian American community, mental health can be an even more difficult conversation to have. And the model minority myth continues to place pressure on what careers kids are expected to pursue, said Wong.

Wong’s parents are ethnically Chinese and immigrated from the Philippines, while Ferriere was born in France to French and Chinese parents.

“Currently in our generation, it’s really hard to change the mindset of our peers,” Ferriere said. “But if we can change the mindset of the future generation that sets up for change, it will be for the betterment of the community.”