Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz

A commentary on “An analysis of caregiver perceptions of early childhood music therapy telehealth groups” (Knight & Blank).

Virtual music therapy services became common during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained a viable option for communities with access barriers. Parent coaching is a specific intervention where primary caregivers learn evidence-based strategies to support their children’s development. Virtual music parent coaching has initial evidence of feasibility for families of autistic children. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative measures to evaluate an 8-week parent coaching program. Feasibility aspects included parental demand, retention, learning, and satisfaction, interventionist’s fidelity to the coaching program, and primary caregiver perspectives of outcomes, challenges, and benefits. Results indicated that caregivers learned about the research opportunity mainly through social media, with much lower response to email invitations. Eleven participants enrolled in the study, but 7 completed the program, for a 64% retention rate. Main reasons to drop out were time constraints and other responsibilities. Parents reported a high level of satisfaction and appropriate learning, as well as meaningful changes in their child’s communication, understanding their child better, and valuing the accessibility and flexibility of the virtual modality. An interventionist with limited specialized training in autism but appropriate clinical experience achieved fidelity in the parent coaching model quickly. Caregivers’ recommendations for improvement included providing recorded examples of the music and tailoring the written materials to each family. Suggestions for future research and practice include prioritizing social media as recruiting medium, evaluating parental disposition and time availability before initiating the program, considering siblings’ needs, investigating cost effectiveness, and emphasizing the interventionist’s collaborative approach with the parent.

Music therapy in Mexico has a limited history, with isolated efforts to establish the discipline, lack of university programs, and limited public awareness of the profession. Given the lack of research about music therapy in Mexico, we implemented a quantitative online survey to understand the status of music therapy practice, inviting any selfidentifying music therapists that had practiced between 1997 and 2022. A small sample of self-identified music therapists (N = 33, including practicing music therapists and students) responded to the survey. This sample seems representative of practitioners in the country. Educational level varied widely, from no university degree (in any discipline) to master’s degrees in music therapy, obtained in other countries. Most practitioners (n = 20) reported having no university degree in music therapy. According to our results, music therapists working in Mexico address similar needs and are in similar settings to other music therapists around the world. The most common music therapy approaches are a humanistic approach developed in Mexico and the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, with receptive methods most often employed. Young adults with mental health needs, with self or family funding, are the most common clientele. Costs, treatment duration, and session duration are comparable to other therapies in the country, but the income from this practice is very limited. About two thirds of practitioners engage in supervision, and most use several documentation methods. We consider that Mexico displays an emerging discipline, with practitioners showing optimism, commitment, and enthusiasm to the professionalization of music therapy in Mexico. Suggestions for organizational efforts and support from other countries are included.

In the past 2 years, Music Therapy Perspectives (MTP) has taken an intentional path to create space for historically marginalized music therapists to write pieces that are rooted in their lived experience. In doing so, we invited feedback and criticism and would like to share one response that has been pivotal in our evolution. In May, 2023, I, along with two Managing Editors, received an email from a person who wished to remain anonymous in which they responded to an article recently published in MTP (identified later by the authors of the article). They pointed out the authors’ lack of full contextualization of slavery as an evil, horrifying, and enduring part of the United States’ history. Here is an excerpt from their message:

This is a review of the book "Music therapy for autistic children in Aoetera, New Zealand" by Daphne Rickson. Title: Music therapy for autistic children in Aoetera, New Zealand Author: Daphne Rickson Publication year: 2022 Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Pages: 421 ISBN: 978-3031052323

La atención plena (mindfulness) se ha vuelto cada vez más popular en espacios terapéuticos y no terapéuticos como una manera de abordar el estrés, el cambio y la incertidumbre. Aquí compartimos nuestra comprensión de la práctica de la atención plena y un resumen de los hallazgos de cuatro estudios exploratorios sobre los estímulos musicales originales que pueden respaldar estas prácticas. Compartimos las características musicales específicas que los participantes en nuestros cuatro estudios iniciales prefirieron y encontraron efectivas y útiles. Todavía es necesario realizar más investigación para determinar resultados clínicos. Sin embargo, esta información puede proporcionar un punto de partida para que los musicoterapeutas exploren la creación de su propia música para la práctica de la atención plena. Se proporcionan referencias a los reportes de investigación publicados para el profesional interesado.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education, peer interactions, and social access for a large percentage of learners and created increased stress and workloads for parents, particularly in families of autistic children, who lost access to specialized services. Providing parents with resources to support their children at home became a necessity. This exploratory study investigated the feasibility of a parent coaching model of music interventions through virtual sessions in a low-resource country. Eight families participated in six 1-hr weekly sessions where the music therapist shared music interventions for young autistic children through videoconferencing. Results show that parent coaching in a virtual setting is feasible, useful, and acceptable for parents. All parents improved in their ability to modify the environment to address child’s needs, adequately respond to their child’s communication attempts, and provide opportunities for engagement and natural reinforcement. Parents found the coaching important, useful, and supportive. Initial recommendations for practice include providing guidelines for safe sessions; adapting to family needs, strengths, and culture; relaying information quickly and concisely; and ensuring that parents can access local services to continue their parenting journey.