The drumbeat that shuddered through the floor of a hotel meeting room, vibrating in the chests of its closest listeners, was beating out many messages: honor, tradition and perhaps wellness.

The idea that drumming can focus the mind, lay bare the emotions and forge group bonds is an old one, with roots in almost every human culture.

Drumming might also help some people in their struggle back from substance abuse, a research psychiatrist told counselors, clinicians and others Thursday at a national conference on behavioral health for American Indians and Alaska natives.

The data isn't in yet, not in a way that would satisfy many funding agencies, but anecdotal evidence abounded among those gathered for the three-day conference at Sacramento's Hyatt Regency.

Dean Hoaglin, a prevention coordinator for the Shingle Springs Rancheria, credits the drums with helping him celebrate 18 years of recovery from abusing alcohol and drugs.

"Drumming is something that helped me find that connection to my own spirituality," Hoaglin said. "It gave me comfort; it gave me peace; it brought me calm."

Hoaglin was among seven drummers who opened the conference Tuesday morning with prayers, songs and the steady thunder of seven sticks upon buffalo skin.

His heritage is Pomo, Coast Miwok and Yuki, and in his tradition and many others, he said, drumming and other rituals should not be undertaken by those who are intoxicated.

"Whether it's the song, the dance, the drum, the roundhouse or sweat lodge, you come in a good way. You come clean," Hoaglin said.

It is no coincidence that the same drum that opened the conference is used regularly in group sessions at the Sacramento Native American Health Center.

At the health center, the No. 1 rule is that only those who are clean and sober can sit at that "Wellbriety" drum, said Carlos Rivera, who is both drum keeper and a substance abuse counselor at the center.

"If we're speaking it, we need to mean it," Rivera said. "We can't put the drum away and go to the bar."

In his own quest to shake substance abuse, the drum and the songs it accompanied kept him motivated, Rivera said.

"The drum is what we call the heartbeat of our people," he said. "There's songs … that just send chills through my body."

The physicality, the sounds and the social dynamics of drumming have intrigued many beyond the original inhabitants of North America, said Dr. Daniel Dickerson, a research psychiatrist with UCLA's Integrative Substance Abuse Program.

New age practitioners and counselors of many ethnicities have looked at the effects of drumming, he said in his Thursday morning talk. They have found suggestions that it can increase brain waves associated with relaxation, drowsiness and meditative states. In some circumstances, drumming may reduce anxiety or stress.

Dickerson encouraged his listeners, who included substance abuse counselors from around the country, to talk about how drumming might become part of a clinical program, prescribed alongside Prozac or other medications.

He outlined some of the tougher issues: What about Christians who feel drumming clashes with their religion? What about gender roles, since some cultures forbid women to drum while others encourage it?

Dickerson has applied for a federal grant to fine-tune what he calls "drum-assisted recovery therapy" and to run a pilot program on its efficacy.

Efficacy – the measure of how well something works – is a particularly thorny issue in substance abuse treatment, where statistics are scant and relapses common.

The jury is still out on drumming, but it has some things in common with techniques that have been shown to work, said Traci Rieckmann, a research professor at Oregon Health and Science University who studies effectiveness in substance abuse treatments.

Spending time in a healthy group activity, with others who aren't substance abusers, can help prevent relapses, Rieckmann said. So can regular gatherings with a spiritual component, which could include anything from drumming circles to 12-step programs.

"Coming together in groups and talking to other people we know is beneficial," she said. "There is a companionship that is cathartic release and healing."

Even better than preventing relapses would be stopping a pattern of abuse before it begins. Some of those attending this week's conference suggested that deep ties to a strong culture are the best protection against getting lost in drugs or drink.

Carlos Rivera thinks that will prove true for the youngest drummer who opened the conference. Eleven-year-old Gabriel Castro Jr. of Tracy sat earnestly beside his father, lending his young tenor to the older men's deeper tones.

"Chances are," Rivera said afterward, "he's going to have a healthy lifestyle as a result of dancing, and singing on the drum."

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