"In My Shoes" Exhibit on Display at Robert Crown Center

Rosecrance’s traveling art exhibit, “In My Shoes” will be on display at the Robert Crown Center for National Drug Facts Week. The Robert Crown Center will hold a community open house on January 31, 2015 from 10 AM to 2 PM at 21 Salt Creek Lane in Hinsdale. Other displays will include, “Hidden in Plain Sight,” a mock teen bedroom with over 100 items that might indicate a child is at risk for substance abuse; free prevention presentations on tobacco, alcohol, prescription drug and heroin abuse; information on health risks for athletes; and video screenings of cutting edge documentaries for and by teens about substance abuse prevention.

More About “In My Shoes”

Rosecrance, one of the country’s leading teen substance abuse treatment centers, has launched a traveling art exhibit to help parents understand teenager’s points of view about pressures they encounter and how they are faced with the potential to use, and abuse, substances.

Developed by teen patients participating in an art therapy program at Rosecrance’s adolescent campus in Rockford, “In My Shoes” encourages parents to understand their teen’s point of view and actively parent to help teens navigate today’s confusing environment.

“We believe this artwork display will be an impactful call to parents to do all they can to support their children and help prevent any level of substance use among their teen children,” said Thomas Wright, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Rosecrance. “Teenagers want their parents to actively parent and give them the guidance and support they need, and that includes how to navigate what is happening around substances today. Once parents learn more about what it is like to walk in a teen’s shoe’s, we think they can have a more meaningful conversation.”

The shoes featured in the exhibit were donated by Rosecrance staff, then painted white so each teen had a blank canvas to tell his or her story. Developing this artwork is part of Rosecrance’s comprehensive art therapy program, which includes individuals and groups creating art as a tool of self-expression. It can help teens in treatment express feelings visually when they might not be able to share them verbally. “From shoe selection to showcase, the process of creating shoe art is a meaningful experience for these teens in that each shoe is unique and visually tells the teen’s story about addiction, recovery, and the teen’s hopes and dreams for the future,” said Jennifer Thammavong, Art Therapist at Rosecrance. “The shoes also symbolize the steps that these teens have taken to overcome substance use and move forward with living happy and healthy lives.”

For more information on the exhibit, visit www.rosecrance.org/inmyshoes

For more on the Robert Crown Center, visit www.robertcrown.org

For Rosecrance services offered in the Chicago Area, visit www.rosecrance.org/facilities/chicago