Is This a New Normal?

Go to the website for topics to choose from...

I am sure that many of you have been glued to your social media feeds and televisions sets like I've been over the past couple of weeks, watching people talking about what is going on and then trying to figure out what we, as music therapists, are going to do to keep going as professionals. My feed has been full of people offering telehealth sessions, educational livestreams, and all sorts of "new" ways to provide music therapy to people who need to have social and physical distancing. We have stepped up to do things differently, and that fact leads me to wonder if this is an evolution in "how we do things." I'm wondering if this is going to be a new "normal" way of being a music therapist. 

There are going to be some clients who will never return to live music therapy sessions. There are going to be clients who will experience music therapy now over the internet who will not be able to be served by music therapists once social distancing is no longer required. I think that telehealth is here to stay now that we have little to no choice about how we interact.

As a result of this pandemic, we are having to redefine what it is we do and how we can do it.

This is NOT a bad thing at all. It is a necessary step that all professions and people have to take at one time or another - we have to evolve from "how we do things" to "maybe this would work - let's try it and see." Over the past several months, I've felt that our profession and myself have been stuck in "how we do things" mode. I know that I've been shook out of my regular ways of doing things, and I think this will be GREAT for our profession as well.

Here's my opinion about what we need to do as a profession. (Please, remember that this is my opinion only. Feel free to disagree, challenge my ideas, write comments, etc. to express your own opinions!)

• We need coursework on using digital platforms as a therapeutic environment - this needs to include information on ethical interactions, considerations of HIPAA and FERPA when offering live and recorded session elements, information on filming, editing, and administrating digital content, and copyright considerations. I believe that this is not an aberration but a part of therapy that is here to stay, so we need to be teaching these concepts within the music therapy environment and curriculum.
• We need to figure out what this means from a copyright point of view. If I sing a song written by someone else and am getting paid for the number of views, does that mean that I am violating the fair use clause? How do we determine what can be shared and monetized and what can't? For now, I'm using my own songs or songs in the public domain exclusively to decrease any sort of violation...just FYI.
• We need to revise our Scope of Practice to include telehealth as an expected way of doing music therapy from now on.
• I have other thoughts swirling around in my head, but they aren't quite firm yet, so I'm going to stop here...what do you think?

For me, I am doing music therapy the same way I always do, but I am trying to think about what sorts of things will help my fellow music therapists in this time. I'm starting to work on a telehealth environment checklist for folks who have never used digital interaction before to structure what folks see. I expect that I'll be posting that on Teachers Pay Teachers sometime this week - free resource, anyone??

Speaking of free resources...seriously, I am offering a copy of my sing about songs series (the full editions) to anyone who wants one. There are six topics to choose from. Just send me an email, and I'll send out your selection free of charge to you!  

Hang in there! We're stepping into our new normal together!

***EDITED: Here's a link to my newest FREE resource for music therapists in my Teachers Pay Teachers store - environmental considerations for music therapists doing telehealth sessions...