ABSTRACT
I had always been involved in creative endeavors. As a young child growing up in a rough neighborhood in the Bronx, I drew constantly, and went to a high school for Arts and Music. My mother was a poet and an artist. I began college as a theater major, but left to become a professional mime. During this period I performed at a few nursing homes, and, after seeing the loneliness of the residents, I began to develop an interest in entering the helping professions. Chronic knee problems curtailed my mime career, and I went back to college in Psychology. During this time I taught mime at a school for deaf children. I decided to get a Master's degree in Social Work, assuming I would become an advocate for either disabled individuals or in gerontology (see Ronch & Goldfield, 2003). When studying for the GREs, I became interested in word roots, multiple meanings of words, and the nuances of language. Later, when I was working as a clinical social worker in a group home in Oakland, California, I would incorporate creating rap songs into the therapy sessions. Some of the teenagers expressed themselves in rap a lot, so I started to rap back. Many of our therapy sessions were totally in rap.
