Applications of Music Therapist-Composed Songs in Creating Participant Connections and Facilitating Goals and Rituals During One-Time Bereavement Support Groups and Programs

As members of interdisciplinary bereavement and grief counseling teams, music therapists may have opportunities to be involved in designing and facilitating one-time grief-related support groups and programs. The aim of these groups and programs is not to replace or to substitute for on-going or in-depth grief counseling for bereaved persons. Rather, they are designed as one-time group experiences to aid in the grieving processes of persons who have experienced the death of a loved one. These participants may or may not have taken part previously in organized grief therapy. These onetime programs may take place in health, professional, school, and community-at-large facilities and settings. This article describes how music therapist-composed original songs have been used to help meet the goals of such programs. The article begins with a brief overview of some common tasks and processes of grieving. An example of how a music therapy department supports the bereavement department in an interdisciplinary approach to designing and implementing such programs at a hospice organization in the southeastern U.S. is described. Several different types of one-time grief-related programs and groups are outlined. An introduction to the use of precomposed original songs in one-time brief grief programs is given, focusing on the use of song metaphors to create participant connections, introduce and explore session themes and topics, and in particular to help facilitate one-time group rituals. Examples of four original therapist-composed songs using metaphor in group programs are shared.