While music is widely recognized for its potential to enhance mental well-being among hobbyist musicians and listeners, research indicates that professional musicians and pre-professional student musicians experience disproportionately higher rates of mental health challenges compared to the general population. This disparity is attributed to a range of profession-specific stressors endemic to both professional music careers and highly selective and competitive music school environments. Contributing factors include compulsive practice habits, performance anxiety, peer comparison, harmful pedagogical practices, negative self-talk, and pervasive maladaptive perfectionism. Drawing on combined expertise as an orchestral conductor, music professor, and clinical therapist, this presentation will synthesize current research on mental health concerns within the music profession and offer practical, evidence-based interventions from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) tailored for musicians. Topics will encompass the development of psychological resilience and adaptive coping strategies, the implementation of efficient and sustainable practice routines, critical reflection on perfectionistic tendencies, and the evaluation of personal and organizational expectations within the music profession.

Authors:
Matthew Brooks, University of Nebraska at Omaha, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Matthew Brooks is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities in Music & Medicine at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) where he conducts the multiple orchestras, teaches graduate-level orchestral conducting, and oversees music and medicine activities.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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