The album “Good Kid M.A.A.D City” by Kendrick Lamar is helpful in a music therapy program directed young adults in a rehabilitation program for those recovering from drug addiction or alcoholism, because it contains themes that reference how people use these substances in their social life, and the detrimental effects it can have. Much of the album revolves around settings such as nightclubs, house parties, driving with friends, and other social gatherings, and this is a reflection of the environments that young adults face when they are in college. Making a definition of the term addiction will help to understand how this affects individuals that are unintentionally hurting themselves through taking drugs or alcohol. People facing substance abuse may not realize how it began to become a problem for them, so hearing another’s experience of when their life changed course would help to recognize that within themselves, through using a song to relate to. Breaking down the several stages of the addiction recovery process can illustrate how to include music therapy as part of the program. Having a detailed description of someone who enters a rehabilitation center, and uses music therapy to find a new passion, and shares this with those who are close to them, will give an example of the way that treatment can change a patient’s life.
Due to the over-usage of the term addiction in our common vocabulary, it is important to refresh the medical definition of the term, so we can determine how it relates to many treatment options such as music therapy. It is described by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as, “a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It is considered a brain disorder, because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress and self-control.” (NIDA) This condition is faced by many, and in treatment centers it is important to have patients understand the nature of their addiction. As they say, knowing is half of the battle. Then treatment can proceed and progress to heal can be made. When someone’s life includes habitual use of these substances, it can be hard to know when a decision to use it has begun, and the cyclical nature of addiction kicks in. Understanding that it is a physiological condition that a person has no control over will help the patient know that they need medical attention to treat their problem. Hearing music that talks about using substances can open the door to them speaking about their own experiences.
In the song “Swimming Pools (Drank)” the artist features lyrics that describe how someone may decide to consume alcohol for various reasons in a party environment. By rapping, “Some people like the way it feel, some people want to kill their sorrow / Some people wanna fit in with the popular, that was my problem” (Lamar, 0:31) he is describing how seemingly simple decisions like these can lead to bigger problems in the future, because they don’t expect to end up with an addiction or worse, lose their life. Being influenced by others socially to drink, or peer pressure, is how he described his way of drinking alcohol. When you are faced with the dilemma of joining your friends in doing something wrong, or sticking with your values and staying away from that choice, it is hard to make the right decision. Gradually, someone can be influenced and then that choice is made for them, by everyone else for that matter. Being able to restore their feelings of choice in their own future is a feature of therapy, and this can be done with music therapy by breaking down each step of the way people make decisions for themselves and strengthening the way they can stand up to other’s intentions that may harm them.
Using music therapy in conjunction with medical treatment can help patients with long-term addictions and those recovering in a treatment program. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the stages of addiction can be separated into the early stage of treatment, the middle stage of treatment, and the late stage of treatment, and “Each stage differs in the condition of clients, effective therapeutic strategies, and optimal leadership characteristics” (SAMSA). During the early stage, patients are unsure of their feelings about recovery and may not be there by their own choice, and those that are there by choice may not be that strongly motivated either. Using music therapy can break down this barrier and increase the efficacy of treatment. In the middle stage of treatment, the goal is to internalize the methods that relieve them from their desires and to implement changes to their life that will alter their behavior. As part of the last stage of treatment, clients are responsible for maintaining the progress made with recovery, and have to stay with the lessons they learned long after they leave the clinic. Music therapy can provide an extension of treatment that remains with the patient by allowing them to come back to the songs they listened to if they feel weak enough to return to the substance use.
A habitual drinker enters an addiction treatment facility, by recommendation of court for repeatedly being publicly intoxicated. They feel tired, nervous, and are craving the alcoholic drinks that they are used to taking every evening. While being served their medication, the nurse informs them of an opportunity for group music therapy the next day following lunch. The person is hesitant, but believes that since they have a passion for music, it will prove to be meaningful to them. The next day, without a doubt, they join the program and realize that more than anything they have loved to do, is become a rapper. Seeing as their stay will be for 28 more days, they decide to get a notebook and fill its pages with their own music, presenting it at the meetings. By the end of the treatment, they have enough music to find a recording studio and show off what they have done by creating an album for friends and family. After receiving positive feedback, now they have a hobby that has turned into a lifestyle for them to continue, in a healthy way, as a result of taking the music therapy. This, as described, does prove that, “Often, the outcome of music therapy is as much in musical and social skills as it is in a personal process” (Pavlicevic, Ansdell 49).
Before we can use music therapy to treat people in a rehabilitation center, we must be certain that addiction is a real disease that affects people even when they don’t have the ability to distinguish what is in their control. Recognizing that an individual needs treatment for substance abuse is an important step for someone to take when they are faced with addiction, and for those who resist to do that, is something that can be helped by making them aware with music that they can relate to. Through all of the stages that someone can go through during their treatment, there are opportunities to utilize music therapy to create reflections of how their emotions display themselves. The opportunity for a second chance at life is something people wish to have when trapped by addiction, and music therapy can provide an outlet for that person. As I consider how music therapy would work in concert with addiction treatment, it’s obvious to me that they should be inseparable.
Works Cited
NIDA. “Drug Misuse and Addiction.” National Institute on Drug Abuse, 13 Jul. 2020, https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drug-misuse-addiction Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.
Lamar, Kendrick. “Swimming Pools (Drank).” Spotify.
Substance Abuse Treatment: Group Therapy [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2005. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 41.) 5 Stages of Treatment. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64208/
Pavlicevic, Mercedes and Gary Ansdell. “Community Music Therapy.” Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2004.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Community_Music_Therapy/3yQP2ZZh9Y0C?hl=en&gbpv=1
