“…for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so…”
Shakespeare (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2)
What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?
Cognitive therapy is a method of mood modification that helps change our negative thinking patterns. It teaches us how to understand and change our moods and negative abnormal emotions. Thoughts that are negative, discouraging, and self-critical create feelings and moods that can halt your productivity, self-esteem, and happiness. Cognitive therapy can help us learn coping strategies to help us change our negative thinking patterns, reduce anxiety, and prepare us to play better.(Burns, 1999).
“I’ll never get into an orchestra”
– You stop practising and create a self-fulfilling prophecy from the negative thought
More on how we think negatively
Your moods are created by your thoughts or “cognitions.” These thoughts are based on how we perceive and interpret things. This includes what we say about someone, something, or to ourselves. We feel the way we do because of our thoughts and the dialogue we have with ourselves. Our emotional reactions are based more on our thoughts than the actual things that are happening to us. Your thought creates the emotion and the emotion can have a positive or negative effect on your mood and the resulting ability to be positive or negative and continue. Negative thoughts and moods can make playing or practicing music seem impossible and it therefore becomes impossible. Negativity leads to more negativity and those thoughts start to become believable and crippling. (Burns, 1999).
“I’m the worst person for playing in tune.”
– You avoid fixing it and putting in the time because it makes you feel even worse. What if I prove myself right?
“I’m never going to be good enough to be a professional.”
– You are frustrated and down and can’t focus on practising. This simply blocks you from getting any better and fixing those things that would make you a professional.
Twisted Thinking
Negative thoughts that create emotional turmoil are almost always containing gross distortions. The thoughts might seem correct to you at the moment but they are often irrational or even wrong. This twisted thinking plays a major role in the negativity that prevents us from positive focus and improvement. Your negative emotions are based on thoughts that are not accurate perceptions. Does the negativity allow you to play at your best? I think not. If the perceptions aren’t accurate you need to be able see this and adjust your thinking. You can learn to deal with your moods, emotions and negative thinking. Cognitive behaviour therapy will help you recognize and eliminate the mental distortions that make you so upset and negative.
Learn how to fix it!
[toggle title=”Photos”]All photos sourced through Creative Commons. org
Banana Therapy photo by James Nash. Books photo by James Lee[/toggle]
You made some decent points there. I checked on the web for additional information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.
I appreciate how this blog was strongly researched, yet concise. For many musicians with performance anxiety, they usually seek out the fastest and cheapest fix. I appreciate that you took a more stigmatized, yet very successful treatment, and described how it can be useful to musicians. We’re coming to a point where mental health is being talked about more within the music community, yet no one really knows what sort of treatment they should seek. You really hit the nail on the head here!
Thanks, Diana. I agree with you completely about mental health and the need to de-stigmatize and offer solutions. I think this blog is a good first introduction and I would encourage anyone wanting to know more to look in the “How can McGill Help” and the “Other Resources” sections on the last page. McGill offers great individual counseling as well as workshops and group sessions. There are also excellent books available and a CBT app. All are worth exploring and learning from. Whether it’s to help a colleague, a future student, or ourselves. Thank you for your post!