Bended Ear Project: Leveled-Up Listening Brings Healing

The feeling of spinning clay on a pottery wheel with your hands is one of the most relaxing sensations there is. The clay is both warm and smooth, and the soft whirring of the turning wheel invites you to tune out the world. Like a grown-up version of playing with playdough, or even mud, “throwing a pot” allows you to focus solely on the task and leave the stress of life behind for a time. Firing and painting come later, and all parts of the creation process can be therapeutic, but at Bended Ear Project you’ll be invited to literally throw your pot and destroy it as part of a stress-releasing process.  

Operating in Fourth Plain Community Commons as well as offering mobile services, Bended Ear Project is the creation of Kayla Sanchez, who discovered she found a “sense of catharsis and completion” from intentionally breaking her pottery pieces. “It helped me cope with past negative experiences. When I was destroying it, [I found that] all of that resentment and aggression wasn’t necessary,” she says.

Sanchez experiences both PTSD and synesthesia, which Cleveland Clinic defines as “when your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously.” “It makes the world a bit more vibrant and interconnected for those who experience it,” shares Sanchez, “adding a unique layer to how [we] perceive [our] surroundings.” 

Bending Barriers

Like many, Sanchez has sought therapy at different times in her life. Some therapeutic modalities were more helpful than others, but through each therapist, she found a new tool to help with coping or parenting skills, emphasizing, “It takes a lot of practice.”

However, just getting in to see a therapist was in some ways more challenging. “The biggest barrier was getting over the stigma of seeking mental health services,” she told me. Sanchez found that even with insurance or offering to pay cash, finding a therapist whose schedule and expertise aligned with what she needed was daunting to say the least. “Then when I did get the opportunity to have assistance with my challenges, the wait time felt like an eternity.” 

Sanchez says the idea to start Bended Ear Project came from wanting to try art therapy and knowing she wasn’t the only one who was dealing with complicated barriers. When I asked where her courage to become an entrepreneur came from, she said the confidence “came from being angry. You can be mad and use it as a call to action. I was angry at the fact that people had to wait for services and it’s so expensive.”

Staff at Fourth Plain Forward, which helped Sanchez secure a business grant, are excited to see how this new service will directly affect their community. Wil Fuentes, a program manager at Fourth Plain Forward, who coached Sanchez in facilitating workshops, says that “Kayla is a people person, a dedicated learner and a great listener who truly wants to help others. She is genuinely eager and passionate about helping the community thrive.” 

Though not a licensed medical provider or mental health therapist, Sanchez is in the final stages of becoming a Certified Peer Counselor (CPC) through the Washington State Health Care Authority. Peer-to-Peer support is an alternative to traditional therapy provided by those with lived experiences in things like trauma or addiction. They receive training “in active listening, empathy, advocacy and specific skills to support their peers and are partnered with a facility to provide mental health support.” 

Sanchez first learned about the opportunity to become a CPC from Catholic Community Services’ WISe program, which stands for Wraparound with Intensive Services, when her family was experiencing severe life challenges. All CPCs agree to follow confidentiality rules (Sanchez strictly adheres to client privacy laws) and must pass a state exam. The goals of the CPC program are to provide emotional support, social connection, skill building and advocacy for those who need more access to mental health services so that individuals and families feel empowered and hopeful in facing life’s challenges.  

Art and an Audience 

To bend someone’s ear is an idiom for talking to someone for an extended period of time. In addition to making an art piece, patrons who visit Sanchez are invited to verbally share their stories. Each session is completely personalized. Before a booking, Sanchez starts with a phone interview or email survey to understand what the client is hoping for and if her services are the right fit. Pottery has been a popular choice, but any art medium is an option, from beading to painting or sketching and even graffiti. As the client begins working, Sanchez will ask about the problems they would like help with and guide them to incorporate it into their art.  

“We all have a stress threshold,” she says. “[I help others] learn to recognize that stress threshold and how to prepare and then manage in the moment with mindful exercises. I practice those skills with clients, giving them a different lens and changing the focus [through their art.] For example, if I [am meeting with] a stressed-out parent, I’ll ask, ‘What is the one thing you wish you could do differently about your parenting right now?’ or ‘When you feel like yelling at your kids, what colors come up for you?’”

Some clients will work on an art piece for multiple sessions, and then the invitation to destroy it will be given. However, most of Sanchez’s first clients have chosen to keep their pieces instead. “I believe some people choose to keep their art versus destroy it because it is a reminder of their triumph over the negative feelings that they have experienced. It is also a great way to reflect back on the time when something’s affected them adversely and they were able to overcome it by using art as a tool to cope with feelings that they otherwise would have no idea or way to manage.”

But for Sanchez, her preference is to break it because, “It’s a way to align the mind and body with what you’re feeling . . . I am releasing the negative energy into something, therefore giving me back control over the situation.”  

Knowing that different people respond to different types of support, Sanchez offers a variety of services in addition to her art-based approach. Other options include client-led listening sessions which do not include art, while her “Bended Ear” sessions focus on practicing coping skills. To stay true to her goal to make services more accessible and affordable, she even offers “A dollar a minute” sessions to those who have just ten minutes and ten dollars to spare. A single art session is normally $50, but she plans to have virtual sessions available soon which will start at $25. Monthly and yearly memberships are also available.  

Eventually, Sanchez hopes to become a licensed art therapist, but still plans to stay in Clark County to serve her home community.

In the meantime, she is filling a gap in local mental health services especially “for people who don’t want to do traditional therapy, but want to work out what is bothering them. The mental health sector is overwhelmed. I wanted to give back to the community and do my part,” she says, adding, “There’s often a stigma associated with seeking traditional therapy, which can deter people from getting the help they need. Alternatives like peer support groups can feel less intimidating and more approachable . . . My primary goal is to eliminate barriers and the stigma surrounding seeking help in your time of needing support.” 

Sanchez wants people to know that when life gets hard, there are people willing to lend you their ear. Don’t wait to seek help. With parental stress and loneliness now labeled as epidemics in the United States, talking out problems with a trusted friend and/or professional counselor is more important than ever. But if you need something in the middle, she is there to offer her “therapeutic services to the highest extent possible with a holistic and empathetic approach.” Learn more at bendedearproject.com.

Read the full February 2025 issue here:

Go here to learn more about Washington State Health Care Authority’s certification process for Certified Peer Counselors (also called Peer Specialists).

Go here to read more stories about mental health and well-being.