Acceptance and commitment coaching for music performance anxiety in adolescent singers.

Introduction: Most of the anxiety disorders, particularly social anxiety, seem to develop either during childhood or adolescence. Adolescent singers who experience physical, mental and emotional changes along with voice change are particularly prone to the development of MPA. However, adolescence also seems to be an opportune time to instil healthy behaviours in singing students as they are more likely to remember these coping strategies, owing to the release of dopamine and the 'reminiscence bump'.

Acceptance and Commitment Coaching for Music Performance Anxiety: Piloting a 6-Week Group Course With Undergraduate Dance and Musical Theatre Students.

Treatments for students with problematic levels of music performance anxiety (MPA) commonly rely on approaches in which students are referred to psychotherapists or other clinical professionals for individual care that falls outside of their music training experience. However, a more transdisciplinary approach in which MPA treatment is effectively integrated into students' training in music/performing arts colleges by teachers who work in consultation with clinical psychologists may prove more beneficial, given the resistance students often experience toward psychotherapy. Training singing teachers, and perhaps music teachers at large, to use an evidence-based coaching strategy like Acceptance and Commitment Coaching (ACC) to directly manage students' MPA is one such approach.

Piloting a New Model for Treating Music Performance Anxiety: Training a Singing Teacher to Use Acceptance and Commitment Coaching With a Student.

Thus far, treatments for music performance anxiety (MPA) have focused primarily on interventions administered by psychologists and mental health clinicians with training and education in psychotherapy. While these interventions are promising or even efficacious, many musicians prefer not to work with a psychotherapist due to stigma and lack of time/access. Student musicians are particularly vulnerable to developing MPA, and while they may prefer consulting with their teachers about MPA over psychotherapists, many teachers feel unqualified to help.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the Treatment of Music Performance Anxiety: A Pilot Study with Student Vocalists.

This study investigated the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a treatment for music performance anxiety (MPA) in an uncontrolled pilot design. ACT is a newer, "third-wave" therapy that differs from previous MPA treatments, because its goal is not to reduce symptoms of MPA. Rather, ACT aims to enhance psychological flexibility in the presence of unwanted symptoms through the promotion of six core processes collectively known as the ACT "Hexaflex.