Healing in Rhythm

Humans, like drums, are built to be in rhythm together. Yet so often my clients feel disconnected and alone -- hallmarks of trauma, grief, and addiction, as well as other mental health challenges. So when I pull out the drums for a family or a group, the often novel practice of falling into rhythm together can feel both scary and energizing. Clients often notice the shift in energy in their bodies, and their joy at making music together. ?Occasionally a client will share, once we are done, how hesitant they were to join in because of a life long belief that they have no rhythm or musical ability. (Soapbox moment here – we are literally built for music… every human community around the world has had some kind of drumming or percussion in its evolution ….. we all spend nine months, at least, developing in the womb under the steady drum beat of our mothers’ hearts ….if you truly can't drum, you can hum, and that also settles our stress response system)

Whenever I have the opportunity lead a drum circle, people who ?have never drummed before respond to the experience with the pure joy we usually see in children. Others – who have felt deeply alone for some time -- quietly nod when we discuss how it feels to be attuned to one another – a process that everyone in a group observes and participates in as we move from a chaotic blend of sound to a shared rhythmic experience. People who started off shy and hesitant may end up taking their turn to lead a rhythm or playfully build on the group’s rhythm with their own interpretations.

Many times, even in one on one sessions,? I will place two drums close to each other and invite a client to place their finger tips lightly on the surface of the drum closest to them. I ask them what they notice as I create a rhythm on my ?own drum. And again, I usually witness the joy and amazement in their faces as they feel my rhythm in the drum head they are lightly touching. Drums, like humans, pick up and softly vibrate, attuned to their peers. We humans have mirror neurons and an entire nervous system that enables us to feel along with the other humans near us. The drums help my clients understand that part of their lived experience.

Drumming is an evidence-based therapeutic activity that supports people healing from trauma, addiction, grief, and disconnection, as well as supporting veterans' quality of life, and clients in general with pain management and stress reduction. As an EMDR therapist, I also appreciate the beneficial bilateral stimulation of drumming with alternating right and left hands. However, most people are less interested in the peer reviewed evidence base than in their own process of discovery. The experience of drumming in a group is proof enough of the power of shared rhythm.