Bereaved Parents' Experiences of Virtual Storytelling Through Music: A Qualitative Analysis.

CONTEXT: Bereaved parents whose child died from cancer are at risk for prolonged and complicated grief, yet accessible, engaging bereavement interventions remain limited. Storytelling Through Music (STM) is a virtual, group-delivered expressive arts intervention that integrates reflective writing, psychoeducation, and therapeutic songwriting. OBJECTIVES: To explore parents' emotional experiences and perceived impacts of participating in STM one month after completing the intervention. METHODS: This qualitative study was embedded within a randomized controlled feasibility trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06047808). Following the six-week STM intervention, bereaved parents in the intervention arm completed semi-structured, one-on-one interviews approximately one-month post-intervention. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using conventional content analysis with multiple coders and iterative consensus to develop themes. RESULTS: Twelve bereaved parents participated in post-intervention interviews. Five interrelated themes characterized the STM experience: (1) connecting with peers and music, (2) benefits of coping through sharing, (3) expansive emotional experience (coexistence of grief and positive emotion), (4) graded exposure through the sequenced writing-storytelling-songwriting process, and (5) enduring legacy, with the final song functioning as a lasting keepsake and ongoing coping resource. CONCLUSION: STM appears to support multidimensional grief processing by combining social connection, narrative meaning-making, and music-based emotional engagement in a virtual format. Findings suggest STM may be a feasible, scalable approach to bereavement support and highlight potential mechanisms (connection, graded exposure, and legacy creation) to test in larger, more diverse trials.