SHARE THIS POST Music Therapy & Sound Healing during COVID – 19 – Pilot Study Report By CHRISTINE STEVENS, MSW, MT-BC, MA Founder, UpBeat Drum Circles Overview Since August, 2021, we have been offering thirty – minute private sessions for individuals impacted by COVID – 19.  Using Zoom, all sessions were done live one to one, online.  Music therapy and sound healing treatment was provided for individuals within five criteria;  Current or recent active case of COVID – 19.  COVID – 19 Long Haul.  Grief due to the death of a loved one caused by COVID – 19.&nbs ..read more

SHARE THIS POST Drumming for Healing with Refugee Women by CHRISTINE STEVENS As featured in United Nations Publication  “Drumming is universal. It is the element of music that can be shared and joined, no matter what language or melodies. The healing and peace-making benefits are well documented and extend across cultures, ages, and races.” – Christine Stevens We are happy to announce that our project entitled “Shifaa Women’s Empowerment Drum Circle,” drumming for healing with Iraqi Refugee Women” in El Cajon CA is featured in the United Nations publication “Music as a Glob ..read more

SHARE THIS POST The Health Benefits of Drumming–Should Drums be Sold in Pharmacies? by CHRISTINE STEVENS Should drums be sold in pharmacies? You’ve got that run-down feeling and a scratchy throat, like you’re catching a cold. A lot of rehearsals and performances have left you exhausted and susceptible to the viruses released in the coughs of your students.  On a quest for an affordable product to help you avoid that looming cold, you head to your local drugstore.  Amidst the aisles of pills promising to cure your cold, there are new campaigns and marketing slogans about “good ..read more

SHARE THIS POST “Beyond the Obvious” Using metaphors in drum circle programs – Part I John Scalici www.GetRhythmPrograms.com Certified John Maxwell Team Speaker Christine Stevens, MSW, MT-BC www.ubdrumcircles.com Author, Music Medicine, The Healing Drum Kit November 25, 2016 Drum circles are a powerful experiential learning tool. The key is relating the drum circle back to the themes and goals of each event or population we serve. We often say, “It’s not about drumming” and yet, what is it really about? How do you make analogies to rhythm as it relates to life, job, school, health, and ..read more

SHARE THIS POST COFACILITATION OF DRUM CIRCLES WITH ARTHUR HULL AND CHRISTINE STEVENS by CHRISTINE STEVENS AUGUST 17, 2018 WHAT IS CO-FACILITATION? Simply put; co-facilitation is two people facilitating a rhythm-based event together as a team. WHY CO-FACILITATE A DRUM CIRCLE? Each facilitator is special, with unique talents.  Even though we are all adhering to, and utilizing the same universal principles of group music making, when we are facilitating a rhythm based event we are doing it with an entirely different kind of style and energy than anyone else.  When you ..read more

SHARE THIS POST SIX STEPS FOR PEACE BUILDING THROUGH DRUMMING by CHRISTINE STEVENS August 15, 2018 “The best way to create peace is more music festivals.”  – His Holiness the Dalai Lama It’s not Kum Ba Yah, peace-love-and-granola, or healing wounds of war.  Drumming is not a magic salve to heal humanity.  It is however, an effective tool to address conflict, violence, war, bullying, and other challenges.  All can be mitigated with one key element; relationship building, facilitated through improvisational music making.  Oddly, we bond quicker through sound and ..read more

SHARE THIS POST MUSIC MEDICINE – SONG SYNCHRONICITY by CHRISTINE STEVENS July 5, 2012 Why is it that the perfect song comes on the radio or the iPod shuffle just when you need it most? Or just when you miss someone, a song plays at the grocery store that makes you think of that person? Or a song comes on the radio reminding you of someone, and at that very moment, that person calls you? We all have these stories of song medicine―a stunning moment of pure song synchronicity when the perfect song comes on the radio just wen you need it most. When I was thirty-five, my mother lo ..read more

SHARE THIS POST MUSIC MEDICINE – ORCHESTRATING CHANGE by CHRISTINE STEVENS July 5, 2012 In today’s world, music is a much needed key tool for transformation on the planet, ushering in a time of harmony in our new co-created world. We are witnessing more and more musicians becoming activists, or as some say “artivists” — performers who are becoming reformers. The transformation from performer to reformer involves four key paradigm shifts: A performer plays an instrument; a reformer becomes an instrument. A performer gets applause; a reformer gives applause. A performer uses talent to b ..read more

SHARE THIS POST MUSIC MAKING DEPRIVATION – CONSUMERS VERSUS CREATORS? by CHRISTINE STEVENS July 19, 2012 “Life can become boring when the spark of creative fire is not lit in the soul of our spirit.” We all listen to music.  Many of us dream of playing an instrument, yet most of us don’t.  How do we move from being only consumers of music to becoming music creators? A “sound check” of the status of music making in America shows how common this is.    A 2006 Gallup poll indicated that only 7.6 percent of Americans over the age of eighteen had played an instrumen ..read more

SHARE THIS POST GROUP DRUMMING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH by CHRISTINE STEVENS May 18, 2015 “I have found this protocol to be not only fun, but also instrumental in improving the health of vulnerable, hard to reach populations. ” – Dr. Jessie Jones, Chair of Cal State Fullerton’s Health Science Department “Introducing HealthRHYTHMS to our health care partners provides yet another innovative and powerful wellness tool to help our members and community.” – Sandra Rose, director of Community Relations, CalOptima. As the health care landscape changes, CalOptima, a public agency that provides health ..read more