A portfolio of research work, including a critical discourse analysis exploring performing musicians' constructions of experiences of music performance anxiety (MPA)

Abstract

Abstract This portfolio represents the research component of four years’ training towards qualification as a psychotherapeutic and counselling psychologist (PsychD) at the University of Surrey (UK). A brief introduction outlines my interest in and approach to the chosen topic area; namely, music performance anxiety (MPA). This is followed by a research development dossier consisting of three separate projects: Year 1: a critical literature review exploring how MPA has been examined in extant research; Year 2: a quantitative, cross-sectional enquiry which draws on attachment theory to examine associations between attachment patterns and MPA, and the extent to which any such relationship is mediated by perfectionistic behaviours, and Year 3: a critical discourse analysis (CDA) exploring the ways that performing musicians construct their experiences of MPA.