Musik als Krisenprävention im Corona-Lockdown

Erkenntnisse aus einem musiktherapeutischen Projekt in Österreich

Abstract

From April 20, 2020 to April 20, 2021 a preventive music therapy offer was made available free of charge on the website lieblingslied.at with the aim of making a contribution to psychosocial prevention in times of COVID-19-related social distancing in Austria. After individual users had registered, they were each connected to a music therapist or music therapy student who, at an agreed time, played a favourite song of the users’ choices and then talked with them about it. The music-sociological research accompanying this project provided valuable information about this new format of music therapy and how people deal with music in times of social crisis. The participants showed a high level of awareness of the potentially mood-regulating effects of music, and they emphasized the connecting and strengthening element of listening to music together with someone. The potential of a low-threshold preventive-therapeutic music offer, which can also be used without physical co-presence, was confirmed in the consistently positive feedback from the participants. Although the service was widely publicized in newspapers and on the radio, the participation of therapy seekers remained below expectations. The project primarily addressed a particularly music-interested, highly educated audience.