Emotional Rescue

Traditional therapy is on the decline across the US, and that may not be for the best. With a still-recovering economy and aversion to adulthood on the rise, Gen Ys still have cause to seek deeper understanding of what’s going on in their own heads. Luckily, the psychology field is experiencing a surge of creativity, as accessible new ways to quell emotional chaos offer promise for those seeking happiness.

Bibliotherapy: Powerful prose can lead to happy highs and heightened emotional literacy, as bookworms have boasted for years. So, perhaps in response to tomes that have taught people how to do everything from influencing people to seeing the bright side, author Alain De Botton’s London-based The School of Life self-improvement enterprise recently introduced a bibliotherapy program. Designed to guide students to a more fulfilling relationship with books, the program pairs "literary patients" with consulting "bibliotherapists," whereupon they work together to determine unique reading lists geared towards personal enlightenment. Those unable to matriculate can still write in with "biblioqueries," to which responses are published on a dedicated blog.

Videogame Therapy: Amid the many new technologies transforming the gaming industry are myriad new applications that exceed mere entertainment. For one, German filmmaker Harun Farocki’s Immersionis a videogame that uses VRT to treat war veterans suffering battlefield trauma upon their return from war. Similarly, gaming guru Jane McGonigal recently helped launch SuperBetter, a customizable interactive tool designed to build personal resilience for those facing extraordinary life challenges, whether they be mental or physical. Ensuring its credibility and efficacy, an impressive roster of SuperBetter collaborators and advisors includes MDs and PhDs from Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, and Ohio State.

Hip Hop Therapy: Pumping jams might not seem like the most effective mode of emotional rehab, but the scholars behind Hip Hop Therapy (HHP) beg to differ. HHP, a self-proclaimed school of philosophical inquiry, utilizes the genre's steady beats to supply both “emancipatory therapy and liberating education.” Recently, Fordham University embraced the movement by hosting a student-organized "One Mic, One Movement" conference that highlighted hip hop's psychological benefits through lyricism, performance, and spoken word. Seminars such as “Poetic Justice: Expressing the Philosophical, Spiritual, and Psychological Underpinnings of Social Justice Narratives from Three Urban Scholar-Artists" were held throughout the day, ending with a concert that showcased artists’ own therapeutic successes.