Debi Graham

Debi is a doctoral student at the Royal College of Music, supervised by Professor Rosie Perkins and Dr Jessica Pitt, and supported by an RCM award. She is Research Assistant for Music and Parental Wellbeing (online events) and Musical Care at the Beginning of Life projects at the Centre for Performance Science. As an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), Debi contributes to the Royal Society’s special interest group on the arts, health, and wellbeing. 

Her PhD research explores how parents’ use of everyday music with babies under six months can mediate the impacts of stressful and persistent infant crying (or colic). With clear links in the research literature between infant crying and parental mental health, Debi explores universal and non-stigmatising musical approaches to support parents and little ones. She received her Master’s degree in Play Therapy in 2009 and was awarded a distinction for her work exploring the use of lullabies and movement practices with first-time mothers. This led to the creation and roll-out of the BABY BONDING programme; a gentle perinatal intervention now commissioned by the NHS in England and in several countries around the globe.   

Faculties / departments: Research

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