Virtual Forum Focuses on Mental Health of Children, Youth, Families

By Paul R. Pace

“Hip hop saved my life,’’ says JC Hall, LCSW, EXAT. “It was my therapy long before my therapy was. Ultimately it kept me alive to get professional help. I spent several of my teenage years in and out of various institutions, from rehabs to psych wards.’’

Writing in rhythm and rhyme was a way for Hall to make meaning out of his feelings and rapping funneled his energy in a healthy way. “Recording and performing brought me in connection with others when I felt utterly lost and alone,” he said.

Hall got into MCing when he was 15 while he was at his lowest point, dealing with addiction and major depression. He eventually found a therapist who respected his love of hip hop. “It let me know this guy is going to meet me where I am at and at least understand,” Hall explained. “It was ultimately hip hop and therapy that saved my life.”

Today, Hall is the school social worker and Hip-Hop Therapy Studio program director at Mott Haven Community High School in Bronx, NY.

Hall shared his story as a presenter for the NASW fall virtual forum where the theme was “Mental Health Matters: Working with Children, Youth, and Families.” The forum explored best practices and strategies to enhance the leadership roles of social workers in this area.

Hall noted his school serves as a second chance for students who are over-aged (16-21 years) and under-credited. The program aids students facing homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, violence, and other challenges.

“I started this program in 2013 in a storage closet; it’s doubled in size since,” Hall said.

A dedicated space offers students access to studio-quality recording equipment to engage in the therapeutic process through writing, recording, producing and performing their own music.

“It’s a way to meet people where they are at with an art form that speaks the most to them,” Hall said of how the program helps students. Hip hop grew out of a reaction to tyranny and oppression, he noted. It is the voice of the underdog that represents resilience, redemption and resistance. It speaks volumes to different people cross-culturally, he added. Hip hop therapy incorporates a client’s inner strengths.

Hall met with social worker Edgar H. Tyson, PhD (1963-2018), who first pioneered hip hop therapy in 1996 while working in a residential facility in Miami-Dade County (Fla.) for abused and homeless youth. As both a researcher and clinician, Tyson grounded this innovative practice in empirical research for 22 years before his passing.

Addressing Youth Suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those ages 10 to 24 in the U.S. Social workers are encouraged to become equipped to identify suicide risks and implement solutions.

Jonathan Singer, PhD, LCSW, professor at the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago, hosted a plenary session during the forum to address this issue. One of the challenges of suicide prevention is the approach schools use that can inadvertently train kids not to go to adults in the school for help, he said.

“I am a huge advocate for the role of schools in suicide prevention in identifying kids who are suicidal and building community and teaching kids that adults can be sources of support and comfort,” Singer said.

It is a myth to blame the rise in youth suicide rates on an increased use of social media in recent years, he said, noting that in 2022 the youth suicide rate dropped to its lowest level in five years. Social media use did not decrease during that time, he said, adding that most teenagers aren’t addicted to technology, they are addicted to each other.

Teens use popular phone apps like TikTok to host private conversations with their peers. “When kids are expressing their distress, when they are talking about their suicidal thoughts, (technology is) sometimes a barrier for adults,” Singer said. “This is why we should be talking with kids about their social media use.”

In 2020, youth suicide deaths decreased. Why? It was a result of the pandemic, which resulted in school-age children staying home and attending school online, Singer believes.

When kids were at home, teenagers on average got 25 more minutes of sleep per night at the beginning of the pandemic compared with the same time the previous year, he said, which could be another factor. Research shows that parents are an important source in addressing suicide prevention. Because of the pandemic, children had more time with their parents, Singer said.

Now that children are back in school, we need to engage them in universal screening for suicide, he suggested. One of the ways we can have conversations is to ask questions, Singer said, like asking them how they use social media in their life, what apps they use, what’s the best part of using those apps, and what is most challenging?

“Having these conversations is essential because kids develop their sense of identity, they develop their sense of who they are offline and online simultaneously,” he said.