[DISCLAIMER] For this psychoeducational lesson on my approach to care for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”), I currently can’t envision a better hip hop example than lyricist Reverie. Particularly, her album Satori (2017), produced by Louden, comes to mind. For your consideration, on the track “Do No Favors”, Reverie states, “Had a bad day, fuck my life,” and, “What you gon’ do now, bitch, forfeit? Sit down, ‘cause your life is worthl

[DISCLAIMER] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness. For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, n

[DISCLAIMER] From time to time within my blog, I’ve referenced two of my favorite animated television series—Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Boondocks—both from which I’ve learned invaluable life lessons. The current blogpost regards the latter series. Specifically, there’s a scene in The Boondocks featuring a character known as Colonel H. Stinkmeaner who has a displeasing temperament, as he’s killed accidentally by character Robert Freeman (also known as “Grandad”). I

[DISCLAIMER] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness. For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, n

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. Now, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelp

[DISCLAIMER] Raised under the religious tenets of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Churches of Christ faiths (respectively), my beliefs were conflicted when later identifying as religiously agnostic and listening to the album Blasphemy (2014) by lyricist Ras Kass and producer Apollo Brown. After all, I was taught that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the only unforgivable sin, per Matthew 12:31. Nevertheless, given my agnostic worldview by the time Blasphemy was relea

[DISCLAIMER] In common parlance, the term loser relates to a person or thing that loses (to fail to win, gain, or obtain), especially consistently. With this in mind, I now turn to the album The Last Few Years (2022) by lyricist Endr Won, on which he released the track “Flowers” and states: When they said I was a loser, I was a lost cause—long gone, don’t waste your time. Just another drug abuser, an alcoholic, and for a while I was proving you right. I started to believe

[DISCLAIMER] I’ve made no secret of the fact that I befriended gang members when in high school. One gang set with whom I was close was the Sureños (also known as Southern United Raza, Sur 13, or Sureños X3 – groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia). Their main rival was the Norteños (also known as Northerners; Norteñas for females, and are the various affiliated gangs that pay tribute to Nuestra Familia). Because I was never a formal affi

[DISCLAIMER] Although recorded in 1993, the track “Runnin’” (commonly referred to as “Runnin’ from tha Police”) was released in 1995, written and performed by lyricists 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G. (“Big”), and rappers Stretch, Dramacydal, and Lil’ Vicious, and was produced by Easy Mo Bee. The song was featured on the compilation album One Million Strong (1995), commemorating the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. This occurred during the time that I was in high sch