A Milwaukee-based therapist is using hip hop to start a discussion on mental health in her community.

According to TMJ4, Tarsha Wiggins, the founder of Speak Wellness Behavioral Health Consulting, is hosting her third “Trap Therapy session” on Sunday (March 13).

The event will be held at Gee’s Clippers, located on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive near Downtown Milwaukee.

Wiggins told TMJ4 her goal with “Trap Therapy Sessions” is to use popular hip hop music to invite the community in to have candid conversations about mental health — while booming trap beats play in the background.

“It allows us to help bring that guard down and join people together through a mutual understanding or a mutual vibe,” Wiggins explained.

The gathering will also consist of a discussion, led by Wiggins, about how some violence in the City of Milwaukee stems from trauma that has gone unaddressed.

“We’re going to talk about trauma and how those traumas can trigger behaviors in us,” she said. “As we talk about how we stop the violence, we have to talk about how we stop the trauma so we can stop the violence in the City of Milwaukee.”

In the first three months of 2022, there have been 109 non-fatal shootings and 35 fatal shootings, according to the Milwaukee County Homicide Review Commission’s online dashboard. The horrific statistics have risen since this time last year when the city had 97 non-fatal shootings and 16 fatal shootings.

“Trap Therapy Sessions” can be a solution to the gun violence, Wiggins hopes.

“It’s not that it’s not happening in these communities, or in my community, it’s essentially that we’re not talking about it because of guilt and shame,” Wiggins said.

“Trap Therapy Session” is from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at 2200 N Doctor M.L.K Jr Dr, Milwaukee, WI 53212. Per Wiggins’ Facebook page, the event has already sold out.