What musician would you like to be? The psychological flexibility model at the service of musicians – introduction

Abstract

Musical education and development are connected with numerous challenges, such as great expectations, repertoire requirements, or consistent practice. At the same time, a destructive role of assessment, comparisons and expectations does not influence solely the effectiveness and quality of concerts, or auditions. Musicians experience various obstacles, including doubts, self-criticism, lack of self-confidence; they also experience anxiety and depression more frequently than the rest of the population. Going through such psychological hardships has an impact on their professional life and the quality of life in general. Over the course of music education, it is worth striving for the development of working methods regarding the prophylaxis of mental health and maintenance of mental well-being, which could be introduced as part of systemic programs offering psychological help. What may potentially be used here is a model of psychological flexibility, equipped with firm empirical foundations and covering processes that are tailor-made for the needs of the musical community. Formal and informal exercises in mindfulness, value recognition, or setting goals based on values, applied as part of work within the psychological flexibility model, result directly in, for instance, mindful, dedicated preparation and performances, as well as in enhanced self-confidence indirectly. For musicians this may be of a particular importance, as it has impact on better management of workload and preparations, despite experienced pressure of achieving perfection, on a higher quality of performance, enabling to experience ultimate and mindful performance, and first of all – on a sense of meaning and fulfillment.