For those who are passionate about mental health and wellness or those simply interested in learning more about overall well-being, DeRose Therapy Group in San Luis Obispo will be hosting an event to help answer all of those curious questions.

“We’re going to spotlight about 12 different businesses in the community that are wellness focused and mental health focused,” said Leah DeRose, founder of DeRose Therapy Group. “In this community there’s a lack of resources overall, but just to be able to understand the resources we have, we’re able to connect people to them.”

DeRose’s Mental Health and Wellness Symposium will be held on Nov. 30 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will host representatives from her own business and others, such as from Sloco Massage and Wellness, East West Natural Medicine, Rooted Dental Wellness, and others.

The event is free to community members around SLO County who want to learn more about health and wellness, she said.

“We do have an Eventbrite link where people can RSVP, but everything’s free,” DeRose said. “We [want people to RSVP] just to kind of get an idea of how many people are going to attend.”

The event will be held in the DeRose Therapy office, which DeRose said community members can find through the Eventbrite link.

“We have an amazing space with nine different rooms, so each room is kind of set up like a therapy room and people [from the different companies] will be in there,” she said. “You can just go up to people, and they’ll have a booth set up and they will give you information on the services that they’re providing.”

DeRose said that food and drinks will be provided to create a relaxing atmosphere, and making new connections could also be a valuable part of the event.

“We have a common space where people can get together,” she said. “So people can grab some food and just talk to each other outside of just learning about the services offered.”

DeRose said that along with informative booths and networking spaces, there will be interactive booths that people can explore.

“Some people are going to be doing acupuncture and other booths will be providing little prize packages, and some will be offering gift cards,” she said. “Then just giving space for people to ask questions and potentially schedule a time too with that provider.”

This is the first Mental Health and Wellness Symposium for DeRose Therapy, and DeRose said that with the large turnout of local companies that asked to participate, she’s optimistic that this might turn into an annual event.

“I’m really excited to just connect with other providers in the community, and I think that the more we know about each other and trust each other, the more appropriate referrals and better outcomes we can create for the clients by working together and just creating awareness in the community,” she said. “I feel like there’s a difficulty in even collaborating with other providers, so I’m really wanting to encourage that collaboration so that we can come together and provide better care for the people of San Luis Obsipo.”

DeRose said that, overall, she hopes people have fun, enjoy the free admission, and walk away with more information surrounding mental health and wellness than they had coming in.

“We’re trying to create some interest in this community with not only information—because sometimes that can be boring—but with [interactive] booths, and I just hope that we get a good turnout,” she said.

• The city of Arroyo Grande is hosting a Big Ditch Holiday Market on Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stop by 50 different booths, support local businesses, and get your holiday shopping done. The event will also have holiday-themed treats you can snack on while exploring the market. This is a new event for the city of Arroyo Grande. For more information, visit visitarroyogrande.org/event/big-ditch-holiday-market. Δ

Reach Staff Writer Samantha Herrera at [email protected].