Virtual Groups: It’s Not Over Yet
In April, Brianna and I traveled to San Diego to present at the regional conference of the Western Region of the American Music Therapy Association (WRAMTA). We had an opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the country to learn and collaborate. Our presentation was entitled: It's Not Over Yet: Virtual Music Therapy Groups in the Pediatric Hospital.
We were able to reunite with three of our past interns at the conference! It was so exciting to see how far they have come in their careers so far. Picture description: 5 music therapists stand behind a table labeled UCSF Health
You might remember that we began running two groups on Zoom during the spring of 2020: Music and Story Time and Mariposa Music Group. We quickly realized we needed to adapt to the changing world of the early pandemic and found new ways to see our patients and families in group settings.
If you had asked me at that time if I thought I would still be running virtual music therapy groups in 2023, I probably would have said no. It was a steep learning curve to a whole new skill set. The groups were working beautifully, but I didn’t see them as a long-term plan. I was often comparing them in my mind with what I could do in person. I felt limited.
And yet.
Here we are, 3 years later, and our groups are going strong. One of the reasons we called our presentation “it’s not over yet” is that it might be so easy or tempting to return to the way we used to do things before COVID-19. Why continue to do virtual groups when they are so different from what we can do in person?
What we have realized is that some of those differences are exactly what makes music therapy over zoom so incredible and beneficial. There are many things we can do over zoom that we can’t do in person. Kids continue to surprise us with their creative use of the screen and using items in their rooms to participate. They dance and play in different ways than we see in person. And we continue to serve a cohort of patients that would not be able to attend in-person groups, including patients on isolation, siblings at home, outpatient areas, and many more. Families have remarked that seeing other children with complex medical needs brings them joy, community, and hope.
We look forward to beginning in-person groups again (more to come on that soon), and will continue to offer our virtual groups to continue to provide the best care we can to so many.
We were so excited to have the opportunity to go to our first in-person conference in many years. During our presentation, we were able to share our best practices, challenges, successes, and learn from colleagues who have also been exploring creative ways to run virtual groups. This is just the beginning!
Theme days have become favorites in Brianna’s group. Pictured above is a group from Halloween. Many of these families would not be able to go trick-or-treating or show off their special Halloween costumes, so this was a special opportunity.
Show and Tell has become a favorite activity in Jenny’s group. Another example of something we do not usually do in person. Our kids get so excited to show off favorite toys, artwork, or other items around their rooms.
