In 2023, Painted Brain served over 1000 unique participants
individuals engaged in Peer Services
individuals engaged in Digital Health Literacy
individuals engaged in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training
individuals engaged in Mental Health Services
individuals engaged in Life Skills Development
It takes a village to recover from mental illness.
Community provides safety, models new behaviors, reinforces positive change, examines and challenges limiting beliefs, and encourages engagement and positive social interactions.
Painted Brain creates lasting, community-based solutions to mental health challenges and the impact of social injustice through arts, advocacy, and enterprise.
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HOW IT ALL BEGAN…
Painted Brain was initially founded in 2005 by Dave Leon as a community-based art group at a mental health center in Los Angeles.
At the time, Painted Brain was not an organization and did not have an official name; it was just a community-based project.
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PROGRAMS
PADS PEER VOICE-ADVOCACY AND EDUCATION PROJECT
Painted Brain (PB) was awarded the PADs Peer Voice-Advocacy and Education Grant a California Statewide Project funded through the MHSA Multi-County PADs Innovation Project.
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About
Artists
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Programs
Services
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
A holistic, client-centered discipline that not only aids individuals of all ages in fully participating in daily activities but also focuses on enabling better health and life satisfaction through unique therapeutic practices.
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
Let us assist you by setting up a meeting with our development team. We can provide consultation, feedback, and a wealth of new ideas.
PSYCHIATRIC ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is a legal, rights document enabling people to plan for, prevent, and/or reduce the severity of potential future mental health crises
DIGITAL HEALTH LITERACY
Painted Brain’s digital health literacy training is a series of courses developed for peers that aims to increase digital health literacy among mental health consumers and the general public.
SUPPORT GROUPS
Painted Brain envisions all group activities, even art groups, as supportive in nature, but we also offer targeted support for specific topics.
COMMUNITY CENTER
You can access free workshops, materials, and resources for mental health, art, social work, and occupational therapy.
Dr. Kristen Ochoa
“Painted Brain has been a great support for our clients, helping them feel valued, build community, socialize and engage positively and grow in their independence through group leadership opportunities. We are grateful for their partnership.”
Christopher Shnieders, Director of The Saks InsTitute
“Painted Brain is transforming lives and supporting our advocacy efforts on multiple projects to improve the quality of care and protecting the agency of those living with mental health challenges to get the adequate care they need to establish recovery.”
Tod Lipka, CEO of Step Up
“Connections to others and a sense of belonging is vital and essential to the recovery process. Painted Brain has provided exactly such an important connection and creative arts community, using the commonality of mental illness, for over ten years. Painted Brain has been of tremendous value to many Step Up members during that time.”
LATEST BLOG ARTICLES
Breaking, Lost, Scared By Anonymous
Breaking, lost, scared, in a different world Broken anyway mad. Turned world upside down. Lost connection. Deep Empathy. Seeing soul shattered, lost in Self. Bringing hope to broken souls, lifting up people. Stop a broken world. In rage, the spirit stronger.
Why the Brain?
Our human brain is our advantage over all other animals, and potentially the source of our downfall. It is the most fascinating of organs, yet remains poorly understood even as the scientific community makes quantum leaps forward in understanding its processes and...
The Stigma of Being Mentally Ill and Unemployed
A few weeks ago, I called the local food pantry to set up an appointment to receive my pantry bag. The woman working there had to ask me a series of questions, including what my name was, how many people lived in my household, and if I was employed. I answered each...
