"Hip Hop's Promising New Role in Therapy"

"A growing body of research suggests that those who live in violence-stricken communities are subject to post-traumatic stress and PTSD at rates higher than the rest of the country.
One creative antidote to this unfortunate reality may be found, perhaps not surprisingly, in the music that emerged alongside the culture of the inner city: hip hop.

Cendrine Robinson, a clinical psychology student at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, recently published an article, "Dream & nightmares: What hip-hop can teach us about Black youth," in American Psychological Association's newsletter, In the Public Interest. In her article, Robinson discusses her experience using hip hop to counsel at-risk youth.

From counseling teenage girls about HIV prevention, to helping young men on probation and Iraq war veterans, Robinson said that the inclusion of hip hop music helps to start a dialogue between client and therapist through a vocabulary and framework comfortable for both.

Robinson writes, "Hip hop therapy has elements of expressive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Hip hop music is utilized to engage clients in treatment by helping establish rapport with the therapist. Music can also help clients identify emotions and reframe cognition."

Artists like Chief Keef, Meek Mill and Rick Ross now populate Robinson's Pandora stations, because they are the artists the majority of her clients are listening to. She has found Meek Mill particularly helpful in this respect, especially his song "Traumatized."

In an interview with The Fader, Meek Mill said about Robinson's research, "That's what I make the music for, to be able to touch people. Even if you didn't come from the hood. You don't have to be from the streets."

As Robinson says in her article, "If we listen carefully, we may be able to find better solutions to address the pervasive violence in our community."

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