Compassion Focused Training (CFT) for Singers, Singing Teachers and Other Music Professionals (2-week course)
Monday 4th December 2023, 5:00 PM - Monday 11th December 2023 7:00 PM (London Time)
During the 1980s & 90s, British psychologist Paul Gilbert & colleagues noticed a trend among certain patients who received Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression: they would berate themselves for not improving in their treatment, despite having put effort into it. This astute observation led him to believe the likely reason for their lack of progress was the patients’ relentlessly self-critical thinking styles, which not only contributed to the maintenance of their depression, but likely to its origin as well.
What followed was the creation of a ground-breaking new therapy called Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT; Gilbert, 2000) that aimed to alleviate suffering by helping individuals with high shame and self-criticism to generate affiliative feelings towards themselves and a more compassionate inner voice. Rooted in evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, Buddhism, CBT, & social and developmental psychology, CFT asserts that the human brain is actually quite tricky to navigate, and thus, it’s not our fault we find ourselves struggling or suffering with it, or with life’s inevitable stressors.
Since its inception, CFT and related therapy models, e.g., Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer’s Mindful Self-Compassion (2013), have received increasing empirical support as treatments for anxiety, depression, and stress. In recent years, compassion-based programmes are starting to arise within non-clinical settings as well, e.g., with athletes, university students, and musicians, as tools for coping with similar psychological challenges. When used with athletes in particular, self-compassion is promoted as an alternative to 'mental toughness', as it helps to develop courage to face the inherent challenges within competitive sports. Although the role self-compassion plays in alleviating musicians’ psychological stressors is still under investigation, it is believed to benefit them in similar ways.
In this two-part course, you will learn about the theoretical underpinnings of Gilbert’s CFT model and Neff & Germer’s model of self-compassion. You’ll also learn about the three emotion regulation systems, and specifically how to increase activity in the Soothing & Contentment system, which is known to create feelings of safeness within oneself & with others, when activated. Specifically, you’ll learn compassion-enhancing strategies to help manage common sources of stress for musicians, i.e. dealing with mistakes & negative feedback of one’s work, audition setbacks, perfectionistic concerns of one’s performance, coping with burnout, career uncertainty & transitions, and others.
Part 1: Theoretical Models of Compassion & Common Stressors for Musicians
Monday 4th December 2023 (5-7pm UK time)
- What the research on compassion teaches us
- Gilbert’s CFT model and Neff & Germer’s model of self-compassion
- Common types of problems facing musicians
Part 2: Enhancing Compassion with Techniques from CFT & Mindful Self-Compassion
Monday 11th December 2023 (5-7pm UK time)
- Soothing breathing rhythm
- Compassionate letter writing
- Compassionate imagery
- Other skills & benefits of enhanced compassion
Dr David Juncos
David Juncos, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, lecturer, performance coach, author, and music performance researcher based in Philadelphia, PA. He has 20 years of experience in treating a variety of clinical problems, including anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders.
Sorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

Monday 7th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 8th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday 9th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday 11th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Monday 14th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 15th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday 16th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday 18th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Introduction to statistics and working with quantitative data for Voice Professionals: 8-Session Online Bootcamp

Dr David Cane
This certificated statistics course is ideal for individuals interested in laying a solid foundation in quantitative research methods. By focusing on essential statistical principles, you will be equipped with the tools to understand and apply quantitative research techniques effectively. Statistics is a crucial component of quantitative research; mastering it will enable you to grasp quantitative methods more confidently and precisely.


Tuesday 15th July 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Exploring the roots of the tongue: Ideas for performance

Walt Fritz
As a relative outsider looking into the voice and performance world, I witness the bell curve of thoughts and actions on how the tongue contributes to voice problems and how best to tame that tension. Traditional ways of taming tongue tension seem adequate (or would seem so, based on feedback), so what is different and new? In this short course for the Voice Study Centre, Walt Fritz will introduce the learner to variations on self-applied tongue stretches and exercises.


Wednesday 16th July 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Emotion and Performing Accents and Dialects: why does Emotion Get in the Way?

Louisa Morgan
At points of heightened emotion, it is common for actors working in an accent to default to their natural speech. How do we help performers to avoid this issue and provide them and their directors with the confidence they need regardless of the emotional demands of the piece? What can we learn from research in vocal expression of emotion to help actors to embody the emotion and keep control of their voice and accent? Our very own Louisa Morgan will guide participants through the latest research and offer practical suggestions for working with performers needing to navigate this challenge.