Inside a Support Group

So I hear you have a mental health condition. Does that mean you're going to snap?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

OK, so when the last person goes, then you start playing again

in the back. Let's do the whole thing again. The R2ISE Theater is restoration, recovery, inspiration, support, and empowerment. This is a place where you can express yourself through your art.

COREY JONES: It's an organization of people in recovery from mental health challenges and/or addiction, and we come together to tell our stories.

I am living with bipolar disorder.

I live with bipolar disorder and PTSD.

Well, I'm recovering from bipolar, trauma, just general life issues.

It's very nice to come together with people that are living with different mental challenges. We really give each other lots of love and support.

Change is not easy, but it is inevitable.

I've met a lot of creative people that are living with bipolar disorder, and this is a way we can just express ourselves. It's very therapeutic for me.

If you don't hear anything else I say today, hear these words. Never lose hope along the way. Never lose hope along the way.

We will come to a rehearsal with some idea of a story that I want to share with an audience, and then we brainstorm and collaborate and experiment and figure out the best way to get that story across effectively.

Then I release, I go.

We have a production coming up. It's called the "Chronicles of Hope." It's a combination of dance, poetry, spoken word, and theater.

CAROL COUSSONS DE REYES: I've never tried spoken word before this piece, so it's been life-changing.

I can fact, subdue, submit, pay the wicked dues, and then I'll prophet. If it could be sold, I could get off it. I can do anything but quit.

This is a chance for my dreams to come true. I never thought I'd be doing this at my age. But, hey, when the door opens, you walk through it, right?

Alexia is our director, and she really started the group. And she's a really special person to have brought this together. I want you guys to be close in. Does that make sense? Does that look all right? I was a professional dancer here in Atlanta, and throughout my life I suffered a lot of trauma, falling into my addiction. When I started dancing in the midst of my recovery, I started feeling better. I started the R2ISE Theater because I knew it helped me, and I knew it would help others.

Today is our last rehearsal before the big show.

Are you excited for the show? Yeah, I'm excited.

We're ready. We're ready to be heard. We're ready to share our stories. Yeah, we're ready.

The nerves are hitting me a little bit, but it will go away probably, once I get up there.

Besides being actors and poets and singers and dancers, we're also visual artists and we're painters and writers and artists who want to display our work also.

The vibe is real positive, real supportive, really nurturing.

What time is it? Wow, 35 minutes. Show time. You girls ready?

We're ready.

Let's do this.

[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]

The show went great. I was really excited.

Yeah, the show was awesome. We had people that actually wanted to come and see us.

When you use the art, you go beyond words. So you touch the heart, you touch the soul, you touch the spirit, and that's what I saw here tonight.

CARLA SODERBERG: To be able to express yourself and not be looked down upon because you have a mental illness-- it's a beautiful thing, and I'm glad to be a part of it.