Music therapy vs cognitive behaviour therapya to mitigate music performance anxiety in music school students. Intervention proposal.

Abstract

Performance Anxiety is one of the main problems that both music students and professionals have to endure during their careers.
This disorder has been treated by different approaches, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy, pharmacological approach, and music therapy. The latter is a discipline classified as an arts therapy, and has proved to be effective in the reduction of anxiety and
stress in clinical, educative and social environments. In this article we introduce an intervention proposal to study and try to prove the efficacy of music therapy in the reduction of performance anxiety in students of a Music Conservatoire. The randomized controlled trial will have 2 groups (one following a music therapy intervention, and another one with a cognitive-behavioural intervention) plus a control group that will be tested before and after the intervention in order to control the heart rate, the anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory’s Spanish adaptation.