Table II.

Analysis of Comments for Feelings of Hopefulness in the Music Therapy Profession

Themes	n	%a	Example Comments
Ongoing Professional Issues	116	17.11	“We need licensure. We need to advocate for the profession to have it be recognized.”
Growth from COVID-19	105	15.48	“I feel that music therapy will be needed more than ever after this crisis.”
Adaptability and Resilience	94	13.86	“We are adaptable to any situation, which gives me great hope for the future of music therapy.”
Telehealth	79	11.65	“I’ve been impressed by the quick pivot to telehealth by the field.”
Financial Instability	73	10.77	“The salary in this field has not budged in a decade. The pandemic has exponentially made a challenging and frustrating situation worse.”
Support from Other MTs	53	7.82	“I feel a connectedness with my fellow music therapists. I feel that music therapists are working together and providing much needed support.”
Increased Appreciation for Services	50	7.37	“I feel that this has opened the eyes of patients, families, and facilities to what I can provide as a music therapist and what music therapy as a profession brings to the health care realm.”
Value of Essential Status	49	7.23	“I am grateful my facility has deemed MT as essential staff. I am hopeful that this pandemic will further create a voice for the MT as a profession.”
Exiting the Profession	30	4.42	“[I] was already considering leaving. Now I have an understandable route to do so since my whole office was laid off.”
Temporality of Covid-19	29	4.28	“This too shall pass.”

^arepresents % of total comments for theme