Afrikan Drumming, Movement, and Play Therapy Interventions

This one-day workshop introduces traditional Afrikan drumming as a culturally grounded, evidence-informed approach to mental wellness
About this Event

This immersive one-day workshop introduces traditional Afrikan drumming as a culturally grounded and evidence-informed approach to mental wellness. Participants will explore how Afrikan rhythm, movement, play therapy, and Ubuntu-centered healing practices can support work with trauma, anxiety, depression, substance use, and the lasting effects of racism and discrimination.

Clinicians will learn practical ways to integrate Afrikan drumming and movement-based play therapy interventions into clinical practice.

8 Continuing education credits provided through CE-Classess.com

CE’s provided for:

LCSWs, LPCs, Psychologists, MFTs, Substance Abuse Counselors, and Expressive Arts Therapists.

• 2.5 CEs - The healing drum & drum circles

Explore traditional Afrikan healers — male and female — performing rituals that invoke the spirit of intelligence and metaphysics. Live drumming sessions reveal the healing power of ancestral rhythm, connecting participants to communal healing energy. Clinicians learn practical applications of drum circles for group therapy settings.

• 2.5 CEs - Movement and trauma healing

Discover how dance and rhythmic movement modify affect and deepen insight into traumatic experience. This module presents Afrikan Dance Therapy as a structured, culturally grounded approach, alongside Western movement-based research. Rhythms that increase emotional range and promote harmonious being are central to clinical practice.

• 3 CEs - Drum patterns & neuro-cognitive effects of rhythm

Afrikan polyrhythm functions as a full conversation among voices in a drum orchestra — each rhythm speaking to the soul. This session examines how rhythm, harmony, and entrainment impact mood, promote mindfulness and concentration, and improve executive functioning. The language-drum connection and its neurological implications for mental health treatment are fully explicated.

Learning Objectives

• Explore the foundations of Afrikan/Black Psychology and Ubuntu Psychotherapy.
• Examine traditional healing systems and culturally responsive practice.
• Understand the role of Afrikan drumming in cultural knowledge transmission and healing.
• Compare Afrikan and European worldviews in assessment and treatment.
• Identify applications of Afrikan drumming as a therapeutic intervention across diverse populations.

All five learning objectives are woven throughout the three modules, ensuring an integrated, progressive understanding of Afrikan drumming as clinical practice.

2 Play Therapy contact credits is awarded for master's-level mental health professionals or students, specific to play therapy.
Credits are offered and awarded to participants who attend the event in its entirety and complete and submit an evaluation.

• 1 Contact hour - Skills and methods
• 1 Contact hour - Cultural and social diversity

Movement-based play therapy interventions provide clinicians with creative, developmentally appropriate strategies to help children regulate emotions, process traumatic experiences, strengthen relationships, and build resilience. This interactive workshop explores the powerful connection between movement, play, and healing. Through experiential activities and demonstrations, participants will gain practical tools that can be integrated immediately into individual, family, and group play therapy with an emphasis on people of Afrikan descent. Participants will experience a variety of movement-based techniques, including rhythmic activities and expressive movement exercises designed to engage the whole child

Learning Objectives:

• Apply movement-based interventions within a play therapy framework to address emotional regulation, trauma processing, resilience, and parent-child relationships.
• Develop a movement-based play therapy activity plan that can be integrated into clinical practice with children, families, and groups from Afrikan descent.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of movement-based play therapy interventions based on client needs, developmental level, and treatment goals.

FamPac Wellness offers continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 25-796 maintains responsibility for the program.

Zelle payments can also be made to fampacwellness@gmail. com

Agenda

🕑: 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM
Registration and continental breakfast
🕑: 08:30 AM - 11:00 AM
The healing drum & drum circles
🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:45 PM
Lunch
🕑: 11:45 AM - 02:15 PM
Movement and trauma healing: Intergrating play therapy interventions
🕑: 02:15 AM - 05:15 AM
Drum patterns & neuro-cognitive effects of rhythm
🕑: 05:15 PM - 05:30 PM
Wrap up and closing