Skateboarding is often seen as a fun pastime or a competitive sport, but could it also be a powerful tool for healing? This is the question that Joel Pippus and his project, Push to Heal, are exploring. They’re using skateboarding to help high-needs children at a center for childhood trauma, and the results are compelling. By combining skateboarding with the principles of Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model (NM), they are demonstrating how the simple act of riding a board can have profound therapeutic effects.
Joel Pippus and Push to Heal Project
The Connection Between Skateboarding and the Brain
The Neurosequential Model, simplified, suggests that the brain develops in a hierarchical manner, like learning to ollie before attempting a backside tail on a hubba. Joel observed that many aspects of skateboarding, such as the rhythmic sound of wheels on concrete, the repetitive nature of trying tricks, and even the social banter at the skatepark, can help calm the brain. This is crucial in a therapeutic setting because a calm and regulated brain is more receptive to problem-solving, relationship building, and healing from trauma. Scientifically proving the therapeutic benefits of skateboarding helps validate what many skaters have known all along—that skateboarding can be incredibly healing.
Turning a Hockey Rink Into a Skatepark
Joel’s journey into this field wasn’t planned. It began with a job at Hull Services, a center providing therapeutic programs for children. Serendipitously, the campus was transforming an old hockey rink into the Matt Banister Memorial Skatepark, dedicated to a young man who found solace in skateboarding. This new skatepark wasn’t just a recreational space; Joel recognized its potential for therapeutic intervention. He observed a correlation between time spent at the skatepark and progress in treatment goals, especially in areas like relationship building.
The Neurosequential Model and Skateboarding
Joel’s observations led him to investigate the connection further. He learned about the Neurosequential Model, which explains how different parts of the brain develop and how activities can impact that development. He discovered that skateboarding hits all these domains, making it a powerful tool for therapy. This realization prompted him to create a film to share their findings with social skate projects everywhere.
Who Benefits from This Program?
The children that benefit from the Push to Heal program come from diverse backgrounds and are often dealing with complex issues. Hull Services supports a range of needs including kids with intensive needs requiring 24-hour care, those in detox programs, those who have been sexually exploited, and youth with developmental, emotional, and behavioral problems. A common thread for all of these children is that they have experienced trauma and marginalization.
Joel Pippus teaching skateboarding
Lessons Learned From the Kids
Joel emphasizes that his students have taught him invaluable lessons. One crucial insight is to look beyond surface behavior and understand that actions often stem from developmental needs or the impact of trauma. These kids are trying to meet their needs using the tools available to them, even if those tools don’t always appear effective. Understanding this perspective allows Joel and his team to be present, attuned, attentive, and responsive to the actual needs, rather than reacting to the presenting behaviors.
How Skateboarding Facilitates Therapy
Skateboarding, as a therapeutic tool, offers a less intense and intimidating environment compared to traditional therapy. Instead of sitting face-to-face, individuals can skate side-by-side, interacting at their own pace. The freedom to roll away from a conversation offers control, which can help build trust. Social skills are also developed organically as skaters learn to respect each other’s turns, preventing collisions and fostering a sense of community.
Skateboarding helps build social skills
Overcoming Fear and Building Resilience
Overcoming fear is intrinsic to skateboarding. The experience of falling, getting up, and trying again teaches resilience. For children who have experienced trauma, the world can feel like a scary and dangerous place. The structured, moderate, and controllable stress of learning to skateboard can help them build a healthier stress response. By providing doses of predictable stress, skateboarding helps cultivate resilience, which is a stark contrast to the extreme, prolonged, and uncontrollable stress that many of these children have previously faced.
The Power of Repetition and Success
The act of repeatedly attempting a trick, even failing multiple times, has its own benefits. Joel describes an instance where a child attempted the same trick 40 to 50 times before finally landing it. This experience offered 50 doses of a pattern of stress that helped him become more resilient. It’s not just the success but the process of perseverance and the feeling of accomplishment that contributes to building a stronger stress response system.
Skateboarding promotes resilience
Skateboarding Beyond the Program
Joel hopes that the children who participate in his program will continue skateboarding as an outlet that supports their emotional regulation and well-being. He believes that skateboarding has the potential to offer tremendous benefits in community, educational, and mental health settings.
The Ideal Skateboarding Mentor
When asked about who would be an ideal skateboarding mentor, Joel named Ray Barbee, citing his positive and happy demeanor. He also noted that incorporating photography and music could further enhance the creative and regulatory ways that skateboarding can engage kids.
Personal Benefits of Skateboarding
For Joel, skateboarding is more than just a job; it is a source of energy, creativity, and calm. He experiences a noticeable difference on days he skateboards and feels more refueled. Whether he is with friends, with the kids he works with, or just skating alone, he feels better overall, regardless of the outcome of the session. This reinforces how powerful and universally beneficial skateboarding can be.
Conclusion
Joel Pippus’ work with Push to Heal is revolutionizing the way we think about the therapeutic potential of skateboarding. By combining neuroscience with the practical application of skateboarding, he is helping children heal from trauma and build resilience. His insights underscore the importance of viewing skateboarding not just as a pastime but as a powerful tool for personal growth and well-being, a concept that resonates deeply within the skating community and beyond.
Interview by: Ben Komins
Photos courtesy of Joel Pippus and Push to Heal
