Individual case studies are described below. Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.

Dan the Rap Man

Dan is a 15 year old boy with a long history of psychological problems (sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect). He has been in treatment with a clinical psychologist for the last year with the aim of reducing his sexualised and aggressive behaviours.

Dan has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

As a result of these problems, Dan had considerable difficulty in remaining focussed on the usual "manual" based treatments.

As Dan enjoyed rap music, an intervention was designed for him based around the song "Your Life" from INNOV8.

Dan was encouraged to write an additional verse with the assistance of his psychologist. The content of the verse was designed to reinforce the cognitive-behavioural programme that had already been developed over the previous year.

Dan practised his words to a percussion track to help him rehearse the timing. He then recorded his extra verse, together with several key lines from "Your Life" on a high quality portable recording system.

Dan's recorded vocal track was then "mixed" with the original, to create a new version of the song, incorporating the polished vocals of the Spin performers, with Dan's own words in his voice. The finished product was "burnt" to a CD. (NB: This was done with the assistance of Dr. Carol Cayley, and with the written permission of the copyright owners.)

Dan then made a label for his CD (Dan the Rap Man), a front cover and a back slick, personalising his CD even further.

Dan enjoyed working on the CD. He displayed sustained attention and concentration during the production of the label and the paper parts and demonstrated a rapid grasp of new concepts when learning to use an unfamiliar computer programme.

Dan's pride in his own recording was obvious. When his taxi came to collect him after the session, the first thing he said to the driver was "Have you got a CD player in this car? I've made a CD". He has also been keen to play the CD for the professional staff involved in his care and confidently explains the procedure by which the CD was made.

Dan has a long way to go before his psychological problems are resolved, but in participating in this process he was able to demonstrate that he has greater potential to attend and concentrate than he had previously demonstrated.

Dan's increased self-esteem and pride in his achievement was evident, something that had rarely been noted in previous professional contact.