Do you know that hip-hop music, videos and lyrics can all be used to help treat mental illnesses and Hip-hop therapy is newest non-traditional approach to addressing mental illness?
The overall attitudes toward mental illness vary among individuals, families, ethnicities, cultures, and countries. This is particularly true in with members of the Hip-Hop Cultural. Assessing and understanding individual and cultural beliefs about mental illness is essential for the implementation of effective approaches to mental health services. Hip Hop Culture Mental Health is now a new platform for self-expression and cross-cultural connection. Believe it or not Hip-Hop Culture Mental Health is now recognized as an effective medium for mental health and substance abuse care. The University of Cambridge’s now has in place a project known as the Hip Hop Psych initiative that recognizes hip-hop as vehicle aimed at helping to positively transform lives by promoting a sense of empowerment, street knowledge, resilience, and self-healing. The ultimate goal of hip hop mental health is to cultivate a level of consciousness, thus empowerment through healing feelings of shame, insecurity, and low self-esteem. The main objective of hip-hop mental health is based on the premise that everyone should have equal access to health, security, and self-sufficiency. The keys to hip-hop mental health is to provide a sense of empowerment; increasing the capacity to manage ones physical and psychological challenges; assist clients in developing positive coping skills; and cultivating self-acceptance, positive self-esteem and compassion for self and others.
Rap Therapy is the theoretical foundation based on principles of social psychology and social learning theory. It involves the theoretical application through concepts and techniques of cognitive behavior therapy. Rap Therapy neither endorses nor admonishes rap music’s presence and influence on urban youth of color. Rap Therapy can be utilized as a means for promoting recovery from a range of issues including but not limited to behavior problems, grief, emotional pain, and dysfunctional cognition’s which is all common with the hip-hop culture generation. Rap Therapy can also be utilized in both individual and group models of psychotherapy. In particularly, this approach has been proven to work most effectively as a culturally sensitive approach of psychotherapy for urban youth of color whose social development has been significantly influenced by the pervasive images and stimuli of rap music.
Hip-Hop Artist like Kendrick Lamar, Pharrel Williams, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and many more address mental illness through their music. Rap Therapy is how kids use rap music as a way to deal with problems they face. Historically many hip hop artists have shared their life experiences through their music. In general rap music allows the therapist to utilize specific messages that are much more complex than is generally appreciated in many therapeutic setting. That makes it an excellent medium for engaging and helping individuals understand their psychological problems and for finding ways to improve their conditions.
It is important to note that a large amount of hip-hop artists come from deprived vandalized communities infested with drugs, crime and violence, which in turn lead to a greater number of mental health problems. The ultimate venture to use hip hop to aid the treatment of mental illness, sound like a no brainer, mental health is universal in hip hop music based on the blues and struggles that hip-hop music and some artist present. The use of rap music is just one of many new ways which behavior scientists are finding can be used to help treat mental illnesses. New treatment innovation approaches such as web-based discussion groups, and mindfulness techniques including yoga have been proven to also be very effective with hip-hoppers. As for the hip-hop generation it is hopeful that through this new techniques such as hip-hop mental health more members who represent this growing population which is estimated to be 50 million in the United States and 100 million worldwide, we will be able to be reached and treat their mental illness needs, thus breaking down some of the barriers to treatment.
The Real Deal About Hip-Hop and Public Health
Public Health professional are now utilizing hip-hop music and other elements of the culture to communicate positive public health messages to kids of all ages.
Understand the connection between the Hip-Hop Generation and how Public Health professional can utilize hip-hop music and the messages by popular artists as therapeutic messengers to reach hard to serve disadvantaged persons, particularly school aged children with an innovative array of media tools designed to improve health literacy that seek to foster positive behaviors.
By connecting hip-hop to public health professional we stand a better chance of empowering them with knowledge and ways to manage potential negative health behaviors. A group of top level hip-hop artist to include Ashanti, Doug E Fresh, Chuck D and DMC just to name a few have all plagued their support to bridge the gap between hip-hop culture and public health professional. The use of hip-hop music and other media tools are incorporated into a variety of well-designed health education program for at-risk children and communities. Specific public health curricula align with Common Core State Standards have been developed aimed at empowering and educating the youngest hip-hopper possible.
