When Walter Patton was a teen, he turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with trauma from the fatal shooting of his best friend. As an adult, he’s creating the space his younger self would have benefited from to process such grief. That space takes shape once a month as Teens Night and is part of his Ghetto Therapy mental health program.

“As a teen, I ain’t know nothing about therapy,” he said. “It was kind of frowned upon. If you went to therapy, you was crazy.”

Patton challenges that stigma each week during his Ghetto Therapy sessions, which started as a space for adults to connect with mental health services and licensed therapists. Kids and teens have those same needs, he said.

Walter Patton has been hosting Teens Night at Ghetto Therapy since 2022.
Walter Patton has been hosting Teens Night at Ghetto Therapy since 2022.

“It was very important for me to create this night for teens so they can have a space to, one, feel comfortable, two, vent whatever they need to talk about, and three, not be judged,” he said. 

Signal Cleveland caught up with Patton during Teens Night last Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic’s Langston Hughes Center. Teens and parents hung out for hours getting to know each other and practicing holistic healing.

From left to right, Sa'Byon Harwell, Alexander Hawkins Jr. and Jayden Brown form an energy line. Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist leading the exercise, said forming this line helps connect participants’ energies.
From left to right, Sa’Byon Harwell, Alexander Hawkins Jr. and Jayden Brown form an energy line. Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist leading the exercise, said forming this line helps connect participants’ energies. “This is what we’re doing in community,” she said. “We’re collectively healing.”
DJ Dean gazes out the window during a group discussion. Patton asked the teens in attendance to break up into groups and talk about their values. DJ said he valued his mother and his phone. 
DJ Dean gazes out the window during a group discussion. Patton asked the teens in attendance to break up into groups and talk about their values. DJ said he valued his mother and his phone. 

Thirteen-year-old DJ Dean met Patton at last month’s Teens Night. Since then, he’s talked to him almost daily. 

“Reminds me of myself when I was younger,” Patton said of DJ. “Faced the same barriers.”

DJ has a stutter, and he feels his peers judge him for it. At Teens Night, though, he feels safer. DJ is “coming into himself,” his mother Monique Jennings-Smith said. He talks more and more each session. 

“People be scared to be themselves,” DJ said. “Being here, I can be myself and not be judged.”

DJ Dean throws his arm around his mother, Monique Jennings-Smith. “Last month, I decided to bring my son,” Jennings-Smith said. “And from that point on, it's just been an ongoing every Wednesday night thing.”
DJ Dean throws his arm around his mother, Monique Jennings-Smith. “Last month, I decided to bring my son,” Jennings-Smith said. “And from that point on, it’s just been an ongoing every Wednesday night thing.”
Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist, plays a singing bowl. Yarbrough has multiple sclerosis, and she’s found holistic healing techniques help with her condition. “In my personal life, utilizing energy medicine and sound therapy helps me to show up every day as I deal with my MS,” she said. “Doing certain things with energy and sound keeps me going. I believe in this stuff so much.”
Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist, plays a singing bowl. Yarbrough has multiple sclerosis, and she’s found holistic healing techniques help with her condition. “In my personal life, utilizing energy medicine and sound therapy helps me to show up every day as I deal with my MS,” she said. “Doing certain things with energy and sound keeps me going. I believe in this stuff so much.”
Teens practice reiki exercises. Reiki is an energy healing technique that can help reduce stress and promote relaxation.
Teens practice reiki exercises. Reiki is an energy healing technique that can help reduce stress and promote relaxation.
Teens and parents form an energy line.
Teens and parents form an energy line.
Dj Dean (right) laughs while Alieza Bell (left) says she values her bed and food during a group conversation.
Dj Dean (right) laughs while Alieza Bell (left) says she values her bed and food during a group conversation.

For Alisha Bell, a 16-year-old student at St. Martin de Porres High School, Teens Night is all about having fun. She likes getting to know new people and stepping “outside the box.” 

“Last time, they had OK food,” Bell said. “But I liked the people here, so I decided to come back because look at these amazing people.”

During her group conversation, Alisha Bell said she values her mother. “She a real one, for real,” she said. “She don’t make me do nothing I don’t want to do.”
During her group conversation, Alisha Bell said she values her mother. “She a real one, for real,” she said. “She don’t make me do nothing I don’t want to do.”
Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist, teaches teens and parents about reiki. 
Shannon Yarbrough, a holistic occupational therapist, teaches teens and parents about reiki. 
Eric “EŽ” Floyd holds his daughter Ice Ciré Floyd.
Eric “EŽ” Floyd holds his daughter Ice Ciré Floyd.

For young people growing up in Cleveland, three hours in a safe space can be life changing, Patton said.

“There’s unlimited access to weed, there’s unlimited access to liquor, there’s unlimited access to black and milds,” he said. “There’s very limited access to free licensed therapists and mental health resources. It’s very important that they have another option.”

During one Teens Night, Patton got a call that a young man had been killed in Central’s King Kennedy housing complex. Turns out, he knew that young man. He was friends with a Teens Night regular.

“Just think, if he would have been here on that Wednesday, he would still be alive,” Patton said. 

DJ’s mother, Monique Jennings-Smith, emphasized that Teens Night can help parents as much as their children. Going to Ghetto Therapy has helped her form bonds with other parents and better navigate her own emotional struggles. Raising a teenager can be complicated, she said. Teens Night creates space to work through those challenges. 

“[DJ] could be out here in the streets,” Jennings-Smith said. “But this is somewhere that I know for a fact he’s safe, and he can build safe bonds with other kids.”

K-12 Education and Youth Reporter (he/him)
As a local visual journalist, I see my purpose in building relationships as much as reporting news. I’ve made my most impactful work only after pouring myself into my community.