HE(ART) for the MIND

During a year that many have viewed as the most unsettling period since the World Wars, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) graduates are engaging in a program to garner a positive outcome for those struggling emotionally.

LECOM Health Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Gianpiero Martone, DO recognized this problematic issue, and with his friend, Monica Mikulski, he established the nonprofit organization known as HE(ART) for the MIND, an amalgam of mental health advocates who are employing the healing power of art to assist those who are struggling with mental health issues. The program provides a forum from which to explore that which it means to be alive in all of its depths of sorrow and joy by connecting advocates and artists with those affected emotionally.

Albert Einstein once remarked that, "The arts and sciences are branches of the same tree, for all of these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, toward lifting it from the sphere of a mere physical existence, and toward leading the individual toward freedom.” This spirit, this shared understanding - is one evidenced by LECOM, to see that art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known. It enables one to find oneself and to lose oneself at the same time.

HE(ART) for the MIND has applied these truisms in the Pediatric Psychiatry Unit at Millcreek Community Hospital and at SafeNet, an advocacy agency that provides free confidential services including counseling, legal advocacy, education, and shelter to victims of domestic violence. Recently, HE(ART) for the MIND creator, Dr. Martone, a 2014 LECOM graduate, was selected as one of six individuals to be honored as a Genuine Hero by the Kevin Love Fund and by the sports memorabilia company, Upper Deck.

Founded by Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team forward, Kevin Love, the Fund supports the mission of encouraging individuals to live their healthiest lives while offering tools to achieve physical and emotional wellbeing.

Gianpiero Martone, DO, and Monica Mikulski.

Upon receiving the Genuine Hero award, Dr. Martone noted, “As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, my hope is to help heal the young and developing who are suffering from mental illness. With the introduction of COVID-19, mental unrest and anguish have increased across all age groups. I am forever grateful that people like Kevin Love are using their platform to encourage mental health and wellness.”

LECOM extends its sincere congratulations to Dr. Martone and to Monica Mikulski for a successful first year providing HE(ART) for the MIND to those in need.

Gianpiero Martone, DO, is shown with prints by California artist Tom Everhart in the psychiatry unit at Millcreek Community Hospital.