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Linden Oaks' Mill Street Music Fest draws attention to mental wellness

A mental health awareness festival didn't sound like a great idea to many people surveyed by Amit Thaker of Linden Oaks in Naperville while he was developing plans for what became the Mill Street Music Fest.

Some said the idea made them uncomfortable, or they simply wouldn't want to spend a weekend afternoon learning about mental health. One told Thaker she was busy before even knowing the festival's date, which happens to be 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.

“Obviously, people are saying they're not going to want to come if it's an in-your-face behavioral health event,” said Thaker, who works as director of business development for Linden Oaks, where the first music fest will take place in the parking lot at 1335 N. Mill St.

The public reluctance Thaker encountered could be because many have a misinformed image of what mental health treatment entails. It's not checking into a locked dungeon with no windows and no freedom where patients are strapped to gurneys and fed meds.

Far from it, Thaker and clinicians at Linden Oaks say.

“This really isn't a scary place,” Thaker says.

And there are several levels of care — from outpatient therapist visits and quick medication management appointments, to half-day or full-day outpatient programs, to residential treatment, to full hospitalization. And “treatment” can involve therapeutic music, art, meditation, mindfulness, healthy eating or therapy dog visits.

Incorporating some of those activities in a fun way will help the Mill Street Music Fest act as an introduction to mental wellness without being too “aggressive,” Thaker says.

Visitors to the free festival can experience a “smoothie bike,” in which pedaling powers a blender to mix fruits into a healthy banana-orange drink, a drum circle, an encounter with a therapy dog, mindfulness games and a meditation demonstration.

“It's a way of stopping and becoming aware of the things around you, therefore decreasing your distress,” Linden Oaks art therapist Mindy Rushford said about meditation.

Attendees can learn how to make a soothing box with calming materials to touch or mementos to view and they can play the video game “Dance, Dance Revolution” to learn how exercise and keeping the body in motion helps center the mind.

To incorporate an element of art therapy, Rushford will be offering splatter painting during the festival, which is expected to draw as many as 500 people.

“We just really encourage the use of art to explore feelings, to express feelings and to process feelings,” Rushford said. “We're not doing art therapy, just introducing the experimentation and excitement that art can bring. It's messy, clearly, and you're getting out a lot of energy while you're doing it.”

Kids and families at the event can pick up a map and get a stamp for each activity they experience, Thaker said. Prizes for completed maps will be given at the Linden Oaks resource tent.

The event includes free food such as hot dogs and ice cream as well as tours of the Linden Oaks outpatient facility for those interested in seeing what group therapy rooms really look like.

But the highlight is the music. The event features a lineup of cover bands including The Acoustics, The Stu Show, performers from Naperville's School of Rock, The Core, Semple and Mike & Joe. Thaker said music and mental health are intimately connected because so many popular artists have used their songs as an outlet for depression, anxiety or other mental struggles.

“The first song of each set that a band is going to play is going to be from a musician or a band that has had mental or behavioral health issues,” Thaker said.

A band could cover, for example, a Nirvana song, and explain that frontman Kurt Cobain took his own life.

With songs as the backdrop, the music fest aims to increase mental health knowledge as Linden Oaks celebrates its 25th anniversary.

“I want to increase awareness around mental and behavioral health issues without it being such a negative connotation,” Thaker said. “Mental health is really wellness.”

If you go

What: Mill Street Music Fest

When: 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20

Where: Linden Oaks, 1335 N. Mill St., Naperville

Who: Hosted by Linden Oaks behavioral health

Cost: Free admission, music, food and healthy mind activities

Info: Registration requested at millstreet.eventbrite.com

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