NGO Ajumängud (Brain Games)

This performance is based on the shared very personal stories of the participants (i.e. students), which the actors immediately performed on stage. People shared their memories that still haunt them. The theater troupe acted out these situations and people said they were inspired by it. The joint analysis of the specialist and the audience was also important.
In the hall, where paintings of people suffering from mental health were also displayed, a nice synergy was created, the staged situations were also discussed. Among people in audience were teachers, youth workers and a group of social workers, such as Uku Presmann, crisis worker and member of the group of participatory theater.

The meditative works and improvisations of the French impressionist Claude Debussy, the more intense Georgian composer Gia Kantseli, the American minimalist Philipp Glass were heard. But also a musical journey guided by a doctor of music therapy into the deep layers of the soul. The audience also depicted their soul landscapes visually with the help of paper and chalk - while before listening to the music and after the pictures showed where they dived. Performers: Helen Lokuta - mezzosoprano, Karl Johann Lattikas - vibraphone, Tanel-Eiko Novikov - marimba, Alice Pehk - music therapist.

The program is structured based on the basic principles of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM), an internationally recognized deep psychological receptive music therapy method. Some participants were just interested in listening the music, some shared their experiences, some enjoyed the part visualization of their inner world. With the director of Kohtla-Järve Gymnasium, the organisers continue to develop the topic of how to bring the new concert-workshops (spring 2023) to the students. On meetings with authorities of city government and cultural center discussed how to arise the interest of the people of this region according to their special problems, attitude and habits.
Works by Kancheli, Glass, Vasks.

Christmas is not a time of hope and peace for all of us. Psychologist Kristjan Puusild, Sissi Nylia Benita and Stella Maria Sillaste talk about the dark side of the brightest time of the year, in a podcast of mental health for the young people. The show is hosted by Heili Vaus-Tamm and analyzed the impact of art events, family traditions, Christmas music and a mental health series on a person with a sensitive nature. Along with mental health specialists, the show also features young people themselves, who tell their stories of experience and share how themselves view the problem.

This is a performance on mental health, part of a programme dedicated to raise awareness about mental health through art. The audience could see their own stories performed by professional actors and hear the psychologist's comments on it. Anyone who wished had an opportunity also play along in some scenes. Thoughtful moments based on stories about themselves and life itself.

The initiative is a form of theater where the audience can let professional actors act their own personal problems and also hear the psychologist's comments about it. Such participatory performances can be seen in the mental health series "Science and Art Games". The group is playing the well-known situations from every day life (a nervous morning that ends in trauma; if children do not want to clean; when divorced parents use the child as a means of power struggle). The situations were analyzed with psychiatrist and audience. People could share their own stories and get the answers on questions they have carried in themselves years. One can perhaps more happily choose and look beneath the well-hidden surface of situations and actions. Performers: Andres Sild - psychiatrist, Eve Arm - musician, Jaan Väärt - experience advisor, Katrin Laansalu - actress and social worker, Aivar Simmermann - psychodrama trainer TEP and story theater director.

The exhibition «How can art help? Paintings and stories of special people» represents a selection of paintings and stories of people with mental health problems. This event is not just an exhibition, is also a social project. None of the authors' names are in the exhibition, but their stories are. The audience can become more familiar with mental problems (from depression to schizophrenia) that affect us all to a greater or lesser extent. The authors' stories are about their sufferings, situations they faced, their relationship with art and how art helped them.

Participatory theater performance "Stories from life itself" is for those who want self-development and new experiences. Story theater Moreno's troupe plays stories about life itself. In participatory theater the audience can, among other things, let the actors improvise on a given theme. In this way, the people can look at the situations in which everyday life puts them and be better prepared for them. And what is the main thing, they can hear the comments of a psychologist who helps to look below the surface. Performers: Sirje Rass - actor and neuropsychologist, Katrin Laansalu - actress and social worker, Aivar Simmermann - psychodrama trainer TEP and story theater director.