By Brendan Browne
Anxiety levels stemming from the Sept. 11 attack and terrorist threats, a sluggish economy and the normal fast pace of life in New York seem to be off the charts.
In handling such stress, some patients of psychotherapist and Rego Park resident Robert Lawrence Friedman are marching to the beat of a different drummer.
Friedman, author of “The Healing Power of the Drum,” is espousing some unconventional ways of dealing with the trials and tribulation of everyday life, mainly by beating on drums.
Friedman, who grew up in Glen Oaks playing disco-rock on the drums, used to counsel patients with conventional methods, but when he recognized the stress relief and relaxation he was gaining through drum playing, he altered his practices. Patients began banging out their stress on drums.
Drumming “was extraordinary,” said Edith Castiglia, a Lindenhurst resident, who approached Friedman six years ago with chronic fatigue syndrome and stress problems. “It really created for me a place inside myself I could retreat to in difficult times. It’s almost a meditative experience. People think you’re really weird and then they go and they’re hooked.”
It may sound strange, but several Fortune 500 company employees have also let off some steam by gathering in a circle and beating away on the African-style drums Friedman uses. Friedman, who started his own company, Stress Solutions, is often invited to large corporations, such as American Express, Forbes, and Xerox, to teach overworked employees methods of stress relief.
His practices have also been featured on The Discovery Channel, NBC’s “Today Show,” Fox News, and “The Alive and Wellness Show” with Deepak Chopra.
“The physical activity of banging the drum enhances a group’s feeling,” said Dr. Connie Tomaino, director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Health Services in the Bronx. Tomaino often utilizes the drums not only to treat people dealing with anxiety relating to a physical illness or injury but also to help stressed-out employees of the institute relax.
“Not that it cures all illnesses but, it’s a cathartic release for the person,” she said.
Friedman, who earned a master’s degree in counselor education from Hunter College, said the emotions and anxieties trapped in the mind can be released through the body in what he calls “active meditation.” Stress is reduced, he said, not only through hitting the drum, but also by concentrating on the rhythm produced. Just as the ticking of a clock can relax a pet, the beat of the drum can soothe the mind, he contended.
“By releasing the tension, the anger, whatever it is that leaves a person really ready to relax deeply, people have experienced stress relief beyond anything they’ve ever experienced,” said Friedman.
The same drumming methods have proven helpful for those afflicted by autism and diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis, to name a few.
For example, focusing on the beat of a drum is believed to help Alzheimer’s patients concentrate for longer periods of times. Some suffering from Parkinson’s improved their motor skills by practicing working with drums, Friedman said.
Still, the main focus of Friedman’s work has been stress relief for physically healthy people. Along with the stressed-out employees, Vietnam veterans, juvenile delinquents and relatives of terminally ill patients have found peace through drums.
Reach reporter Brendan Browne by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 155.
