Windows of student music therapy experience during COVID-19

Authors

  • Liana Nuse Independent scholar, Scotland
  • Karin Meyer Independent scholar, South Africa
  • Nethaniëlle Mattison Independent scholar, South Africa
  • Cara Smith Independent scholar, South Africa
  • Holly McPhee Independent scholar, New Zealand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2022.123

Keywords:

student perspective, student experience, COVID-19, mental health, social justice, music therapy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on many individuals. This report aims to explore the impact this pandemic has had on the lives of five music therapy students. Three students from South Africa, one from Scotland, and one from New Zealand came together to write about their experiences of studying music therapy during this global outbreak. Each student shared their responses to three broad questions through writing essays and offering non-verbal creative responses. The report ends with a reflection which ties the individual contributions together and includes a synopsis of the concerns they share as music therapy students entering into the profession during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author Biographies

  • Liana Nuse, Independent scholar, Scotland

    Liana Nuse is a songwriter, improviser, dancer, and devotee to play in all its forms. She graduated from Queen Margaret University in Scotland with an MSc in Music Therapy in 2020 and earned her MT-BC in spring 2021. Liana is the music therapist for Franklin County Paediatric Palliative Care in northern Vermont and has recently opened a part time private practice. She grew up on the homelands of the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe. [liananuse@gmail.com]

  • Karin Meyer, Independent scholar, South Africa

    Karin Meyer is a classically trained pianist and music teacher. She has recently completed her master’s degree in Music Therapy at the University of Pretoria. She also holds a master’s degree in classical piano from the University of Stellenbosch. She currently lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa. [karin@pugnpiano.com]

  • Nethaniëlle Mattison, Independent scholar, South Africa

    Nethaniëlle Mattison is an HPCSA certified Music Therapist and the founding member of Frontline Support, an arts therapies response to the COVID-19 mental health crisis in South Africa. She is interested in matters of access and social justice. She currently lives in Randburgh, South Africa. [onevoicemusictherapy@gmail.com]

  • Cara Smith, Independent scholar, South Africa

    Cara Smith is a singer, songwriter and Board-Certified Music Therapist currently in her final year of studying a master’s degree in Music Therapy at University of Pretoria. Cara aims to allow this next step in her education to better inform her work with intercultural communities and the building of her own non-profit and music therapy advocacy program Umoja Global Community Music Therapy.[cara@umojaglobal.org]

  • Holly McPhee, Independent scholar, New Zealand

    Holly McPheeis a music therapy student in her final year of the Master’s of Music Therapy programme at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her love of singing developed in community music groups, school choirs and at folk music clubs during her undergraduate study in Dunedin. [hollyjmmcphee@gmail.com]

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Published

2021-11-05

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2022)

Section

SPECIAL FEATURE | Reports on online music therapy

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Liana Nuse, Karin Meyer, Nethaniëlle Mattison, Cara Smith, Holly McPhee

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.