Drumming Through Trauma
Following my time in Ohio I travelled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In Cape Cod I had the opportunity to shadow Sam Holmstock, a talented and experienced musician. Sam facilitates a number of drumming classes with different populations and community groups in and around Cape Cod. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in some of Sam's classes, including the Drumming Through Trauma programme delivered through Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Drumming Through Trauma is a weekly class that is primarily aimed at veterans suffering from PTSD, though it can also be accessed by other members of the community who have been affected by trauma in different contexts. The group meets each week for an hour and uses Conga drums to learn and play a series of rhythms. Many participants have been coming to the group for several years and it is clear that they have developed a level of proficiency as musicians. The group is also always open to new members, and Sam was a skilled teacher who ensured that the less experienced participants (myself included) were taught the different hand movements and rhythms, meaning everyone could fully participate in this inclusive class.
There are numerous benefits to using drumming for trauma. The group aims to "increase neuroplasticity, and stimulate the brain’s production of neurotransmitters that produce focus, attention, and relaxation" (artsonthecape.org). When people are traumatised they are frequently caused distress by unwanted images, intrusions and symptoms related to the trauma they have experienced. The 'animal' part of the brain (which responds to threat and danger) is in a state of high alert, constantly indicating to the person that they are in danger. Unwanted images and sensations from the past trauma frequently intrude on the person's mind and body, causing great distress. On a logical level the'human' part of the brain knows the danger is over, however this does not prevent the person from being constantly triggered into trauma symptoms from the animal part of the brain. One of the things that is known to be helpful for this is 'dual awareness', where the mind and body and simultaneously engaged in different activities. Drumming is a very good example of this, whereby you are required to engage in processes of movement, listening and mental concentration at the same time. During this process one is naturally grounded in the 'here and now' and it is much harder to be troubled by unwanted symptoms or memories related to the past. As an EMDR therapist I am also very interested in the way that drumming involves bilateral stimulation, and I am curious about how this may aid the processing of past traumatic experiences.
Additionally, drumming circles have the benefit of bringing people together in a communal activity. Isolation and disconnection are often major issues for traumatised people, and I can see how the collective nature of drumming can be very healing. Whilst I was on the Cape I also attended a conference with Bessel van der Kolk (separate blog post to follow), who is an advocate of the use of creativity, music, movement and theatre in the healing of trauma. Dr van der Kolk spoke of competency being a protective factor from the impact of trauma; if you are very good at something, and derive pleasure and joy from it, this provides a sense of purpose and identity which is greatly beneficial for healing from trauma. I could see that those who had attended Drumming Through Trauma had a sense of pride in the skills they had developed through the class. The use of the arts to express and process trauma is also immensely helpful considering the fact that language can be so constrictive. In some cases words are simply not enough to convey what needs to be told. At the other end of the spectrum, words can sometimes be too much, and the arts can provide a distancing technique to 'tell the story' of your trauma without needing to literally describe or put into words what has happened to you.
Drumming Through Trauma is a weekly class that is primarily aimed at veterans suffering from PTSD, though it can also be accessed by other members of the community who have been affected by trauma in different contexts. The group meets each week for an hour and uses Conga drums to learn and play a series of rhythms. Many participants have been coming to the group for several years and it is clear that they have developed a level of proficiency as musicians. The group is also always open to new members, and Sam was a skilled teacher who ensured that the less experienced participants (myself included) were taught the different hand movements and rhythms, meaning everyone could fully participate in this inclusive class.
There are numerous benefits to using drumming for trauma. The group aims to "increase neuroplasticity, and stimulate the brain’s production of neurotransmitters that produce focus, attention, and relaxation" (artsonthecape.org). When people are traumatised they are frequently caused distress by unwanted images, intrusions and symptoms related to the trauma they have experienced. The 'animal' part of the brain (which responds to threat and danger) is in a state of high alert, constantly indicating to the person that they are in danger. Unwanted images and sensations from the past trauma frequently intrude on the person's mind and body, causing great distress. On a logical level the'human' part of the brain knows the danger is over, however this does not prevent the person from being constantly triggered into trauma symptoms from the animal part of the brain. One of the things that is known to be helpful for this is 'dual awareness', where the mind and body and simultaneously engaged in different activities. Drumming is a very good example of this, whereby you are required to engage in processes of movement, listening and mental concentration at the same time. During this process one is naturally grounded in the 'here and now' and it is much harder to be troubled by unwanted symptoms or memories related to the past. As an EMDR therapist I am also very interested in the way that drumming involves bilateral stimulation, and I am curious about how this may aid the processing of past traumatic experiences.
Additionally, drumming circles have the benefit of bringing people together in a communal activity. Isolation and disconnection are often major issues for traumatised people, and I can see how the collective nature of drumming can be very healing. Whilst I was on the Cape I also attended a conference with Bessel van der Kolk (separate blog post to follow), who is an advocate of the use of creativity, music, movement and theatre in the healing of trauma. Dr van der Kolk spoke of competency being a protective factor from the impact of trauma; if you are very good at something, and derive pleasure and joy from it, this provides a sense of purpose and identity which is greatly beneficial for healing from trauma. I could see that those who had attended Drumming Through Trauma had a sense of pride in the skills they had developed through the class. The use of the arts to express and process trauma is also immensely helpful considering the fact that language can be so constrictive. In some cases words are simply not enough to convey what needs to be told. At the other end of the spectrum, words can sometimes be too much, and the arts can provide a distancing technique to 'tell the story' of your trauma without needing to literally describe or put into words what has happened to you.
