Drum circles are a place to heal.
CVAI Drums
Healing Drum Circles
Drum circles are a place to heal. When we come into one, we enter a sacred
place as a community without judgment and mistrust, with respect and
compassion to heal one another and bring into focus the possibilities of who we
truly are.
Coachella Valley Arts drum circles provide a shared experience supported by the
resonance, movement, and rhythm of the drumming and an approach that
encourages opening up to the energy generated. The focus on the drumming,
combined with the connectedness that comes from playing in a group, opens up
an opportunity for a release, processing, or transformation of emotions and
residual trauma.
Healing Drums Program
Our Healing Drums program exists to serve, educate, and empower the
homeless population, artists suffering or recovering from addiction, and trauma
survivors in our focused effort to prevent self abuse through innovative wellness-
support programs. We contribute to global healing and community through
advocacy, storytelling, and the promotion of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM).
Our Story
Coachella Valley Arts Institute’s approach was born from the idea that unconditional love and support is the most powerful healer and that each of us is responsible for our own health and soul growth through dark and challenging times.
We engage drumming as a tool for healing, allowing participants to use rhythm, mindfulness, and energy-medicine techniques as an avenue for connection, and supports complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) programs for trauma recovery.
As an organization, we serve, educate, and empower through:
- Promoting homeless resiliency through CAM therapies
- Drumming for healing at-risk populations
- Suicide prevention programs
Over the past 20 years, some of our most significant and impactful work has been that focused on suicide prevention, for homeless and others at risk.
According to a 2017 study, more than 40 percent of homeless teens struggle with depression, which is 12 percentage points higher than their housed peers. School-age children and youth who are homeless are three times more likely to attempt suicide than students who live at home with a parent or guardian (20 percent versus six percent housed).
In 2019, statistics indicate that there was an overall decrease in homeless suicide. Though the numbers remain staggering, and we wait to get updated data, we are encouraged that programs and broader efforts seem to have begun to make a difference.
Testimonials
This gave me hope to continue to live. Thank you.
Jane Smith, San Jacinto, CA
I felt alone. I felt defeated. The drumming uplifted my spirits.
Anonymous, Hemet, CA
Coachella Valley Arts Institute 