Howard Brown Health Center, the VALEO program at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital and Center on Halsted recently hosted a gathering of mental health professionals who work in the LGBTQ community. VALEO’s Joe Camper, M.A., LCPC., presented a talk on the roles of sports and exercise in treatment strategy.
Camper’s talk began with a test regarding the identification of famous LGBT athletes, including Billie Jean King and Greg Louganis. He then discussed the benefits of exercise (which include everything from the ability to relax, more elastic skin and the reduction of the risks of several conditions, such as stroke and osteoporosis) to the perks of strength training (e.g., improved flexibility and glucose tolerance). Camper also listed tips that people should employ when exercising, such as choosing a variety of activities and not adhering to the mantra ‘no pain, no gain.’ In addition, he talked about the lack of discussions between doctors and their patients about exercise. ‘According to a study, less than 10 percent talked about exercise. The only time they talked with patients about exercise was if the patients were markedly overweight.’ Camper advised the other professionals to get people ‘to start people with the sport that they think they might want to play and then walk them through the process.’
The talk took a more personal turn as Camper discussed his own feelings about sports and coming out. ‘For some reason, I thought that if I came out I couldn’t play sports,’ he commented. He then noted how wrong he was, detailing an extensive list of local outlets for everyone from neophytes to weekday athletic warriors. (Some of the organizations he listed included Frontrunners & Frontwalkers; flag football leagues; tennis leagues such as Second City and Metropolitan Sports Association [which also offers other sports] ; and the Gay Games.) Camper also advised that he sticks with the ‘There’s no ‘I’ in team’ belief in order to deal with those who may be more narcissistic.
A similar meeting will be held each quarter; tentative dates are May 12, Aug. 11 and Nov. 10. For more info, contact Howard Brown’s Braden Berkey, Psy. D., at (773) 388-8904.