An empirical study investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the work of music therapists who primarily use wind instruments in their practice.

Abstract

Music therapy in the UK has faced challenges to practice during lockdown. In this empirical study, I interviewed music therapists who primarily use wind instruments in their therapeutic delivery. This study aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the work of such music therapists, all of whom had been working and practicing in the UK prior to, during, and post lockdown measures. By interviewing music therapists, I hoped that this study would share further insight into music therapy delivery in the UK and its development since COVID-19. By recognising the phenomenological methodology underpinning of this research, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was the chosen approach for this research project. Two music therapists participated in a semistructured interview process, and through the analysis of such interviews, four common themes were identified: “Adaptations to music therapy provisions negatively impacted the work of music therapists”, “Music therapists had mixed feelings about online music therapy”, “Music therapists had limited choice over instrumentation in sessions”, and “Music therapists’ professional identity and sense of self were negatively impacted”. Such themes contributed to discussions surrounding the lived experiences of these two music therapists, who both outlined the challenges and opportunities of working through the COVID-19 pandemic. With such music therapy research focussed away from orchestral instruments, it has never been a more relevant time to raise the conversation around the importance of single line instruments, not just wind instruments, in music therapy, especially after a time of great crisis and upheaval.