Healing rhythmsHealing rhythms
All In The Mind
Rhythmic music can affect how the brain controls our stress response. We discuss with counsellor Simon Faulkner how group-based drumming taps into people’s emotions—and when combined with reflective discussion this can be an effective alternative form of therapy.
28:52•11 Dec 2016
Healing Rhythms: How Group Drumming Supports Stress, Trauma and Recovery
Episode Overview
- Rhythmic music influences primal brain regions involved in fight‑or‑flight, making it a useful tool for calming stress and trauma responses.
- Group drumming offers an experiential way to reduce self‑consciousness, lift mood and ease people into talking about difficult issues.
- Drumming sessions can model life skills such as cooperation, trust, peer resistance and emotional regulation through simple rhythmic exercises.
- For people who struggle with language or feel confronted by talk therapy, the drum provides a clear, non‑verbal medium for expressing feelings.
- Research on programmes like DRUMBEAT reports improvements in self‑esteem, behavioural control and anxiety, sometimes matching antidepressant outcomes.
“Using this sort of drum, it doesn’t matter if we make a mistake. It’s about being connected, it’s about the expression we’re feeling as we play.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction and trauma using nothing more than a drum and a steady beat? This episode of All In The Mind looks at how rhythmic music can shift mood, calm the stress response and open up conversations that might otherwise feel too confronting. Counsellor Simon Faulkner shares how his work as a drug and alcohol counsellor with high‑risk young people led him to develop the DRUMBEAT and Rhythm to Recovery models.
Talking about thoughts and feelings didn’t connect with many of the kids he saw, especially Indigenous youth, but handing them a drum did. Group drumming quickly turned tense sessions into something fun and engaging, while still offering a way to work on life skills, emotional regulation and social connection.
Simon explains that rhythm affects primal parts of the brain involved in fight‑or‑flight responses, and that steady tempos can help realign stress systems shaped early on by something as basic as a mother’s heartbeat.
For people who can’t or don’t want to talk, the drum becomes a powerful medium for communication: “You can replicate a lot of conversation, a lot of emotions through playing the drum.” James Wood, who runs therapeutic drumming programmes in Western Sydney schools, describes using rhythm to spark discussion about relationships, bullying, peer pressure and self‑esteem. Over ten weeks, he sees walls come down as young people move from shy fingertip taps to leading performances in front of their peers.
Student Liam Haywood talks about arriving quiet and nervous, then finding that drumming helped him open up about his feelings and manage anger and anxiety. His journey from reluctance to confidence shows how a simple beat can support healing where words once failed. If you’re curious how something as basic as rhythm might support stress relief, emotional recovery or sobriety, could picking up a drum be the next small step on your journey?
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