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‘TRAP’ SET BY BROWN

Battered beauty Rihanna is headed for troubled waters since reuniting with her boyfriend Chris Brown, experts say.

The “Umbrella” R&B singer is back in the arms that allegedly beat her, according to reports, and the two have hunkered down at one of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ mansions on Star Island, Fla., where Brown has been spotted zipping along on a Jet-Ski.

Psychologists say reconciliation is a “classic” pattern in violent domestic relationships.

“Once the woman shuts down and breaks off contact, then he’s going to pursue her,” said New Jersey psychotherapist Sue Waldman, who has not treated Rihanna or Brown.

“He will woo her and say he’s sorry and that he’s going to change. He’ll give her anything and everything to show her how much he loves her.”

Brown, 19, reportedly showered his sweetheart with presents, and called her on her 21st birthday, which she celebrated without him Feb. 20.

“She’s a wounded little girl, and she thinks she can make him change. She gets manipulated into going back,” said Waldman.

But abusers will abuse again, she said, unless treated for their tendencies.

“Her decision to come back isn’t based on reality,” Waldman said.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Brustein, who also never treated Rihanna or Brown, said women often return to their abusers because they don’t want to face the fact that they are attracted to violent men.

“By denying that he’s a violent person, she denies that she’s attracted to violent people,” he said.

“Accepting that he’s an abuser would mean accepting that she’s a person who is drawn to abusers.”

Los Angeles police arrested Brown in the Feb. 8 fighting incident.

Rihanna’s father, Ronald Fenty, told People he supports his daughter’s decision to go back to Brown. “Whatever road she chooses, I’m behind her,” he said.

stefanie.cohen@nypost.com