Music’s therapeutic benefits are well established for musicians and audiences alike. In recent years however, an emergent thread of research is revealing the severity of the negative mental and physical health impacts pursuing a career in music can take. Studies such as Can Music Make You Sick? (Gross and Musgrave, 2020), ‘When Music Speaks’ (Musgrave et al., 2024), and the Touring and Mental Health: The music industry manual (Embleton, 2023) reveal the stressors such careers can have on the mental and physical health of musicians and practitioners alike.
Join us in this session to hear from two of the authors of these landmark studies. Led by lecturer in popular music Dr Christina Ballico alongside Dr George Musgrave (Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths University) and Dr Susan Raeburn (Clinical Psychologist and member of the Music Therapists Collective) this in conversation session will delve into the findings of these studies and explore the ways in which musicians navigate mental and physical stressors in their careers. Dr Musgrave will join is in the first hour (1-2pm), while Dr Raeburn will be joining us in the second hour (2-3pm).
BiosDr. George Musgrave is an interdisciplinary sociologist of music, researching musicians' psychosocial working lives. His specialism concerns the psychological experiences and working conditions of creative careers, with a focus on mental health and wellbeing in the music industry. He has collaboratively undertaken two major funded research projects - 'Can Music Make You Sick?' (UK) and ‘When Music Speaks’ (Denmark) - on mental health and the music industry. The book of the former was an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller in the Sociology of Work. His research has been published in world-leading journals including The Lancet, The Lancet Psychiatry, Poetics, Cultural Trends, Musicae Scientiae, and Psychology of Music
Dr Susan D. Raeburn is a licensed clinical psychologist in Oakland, CA with a special interest in working with performing artists. She attended UCLA (BA), San Francisco State University (MA) and the Wright Institute, Berkeley (PhD). She was a staff psychologist at Stanford University Medical Center (1983–1992) and later worked in Chemical Dependency Services at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Walnut Creek, CA (1992–2016). Susan has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on eating disorders, addictions and musician mental health and is a member of Performing Arts Medicine Association where she is on the Editorial Board of their journal, Medical Problems of Performing Artists. With Eric Maisel, she co-authored Creative Recovery: A Complete Addiction Treatment Program That Uses Your Natural Creativity and contributed two chapters to Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual (Omnibus, 2023). She has been active at music industry conferences (South by Southwest, NARAS, The Future of Music Coalition, The Experience Music Project).
Please note: This event is taking place in a different location (KCG7) to our usual seminars.
Content warning: Owing to the nature of the topic at hand, attendees are advised that this session will discuss a range of sensitive and potentially distressing topics. Attendees are also advised that any advice or guidance provided during this session is not intended to replace that provided in formal therapeutic settings.
- Venue
- King's College, KCG7
- Contact
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Drs Musgrave and Raeburn will be joining us via Teams, and if you would like to do so too, please email Dr Christina Ballico (christina.ballico@abdn.ac.uk)