Tonbridge Brief Therapy Centre :: Effective change now

Performance skills

have applications across a wide range of areas.

Many top sports coaches, for example, are now aware of how important it is to develop the ‘inner game’, the psychological skill that underlies physical abilities. Musicians and actors similarly know that there is much more to performing effectively than knowing the notes or the words. Equally, many everyday professional, personal and social situations and activities call for the same kinds of practical understanding. Then of course there are exams and interviews.

It's useful to look at the elements involved in learning new performance skills at the centre under several categories:

Confidence

is a skill that can be developed rather than a fixed thing of which you have a certain quantity. The techniques used will help you to know how to develop and use confidence practically.

Performance nerves

is natural to have a degree of nervous tension associated with performance. Skilled performers learn to work with this. However, otherwise confident people can sometimes find their skills affected by various forms of unexpected and extreme nervous tension. We teach an understanding of how this kind of thing happens as well as specific techniques for dealing with it.

Developing skills

People sometimes need to develop new skills as well as to hone old ones in more effective ways. Sometimes even professional performers feel stuck from time to time. Rehearsing effective solutions through practical guided imagery can dramatically enhance performance.

Personal focus

Every performer needs occasionally to re-assess personal focus in their art/sport/skill etc. This sometimes involves examining ways in which general life needs work with or against the particular area of performance. It may also involve learning various relaxation techniques, mind focus etc. in addition to developing suggestions in trance work with the therapeutic coach. This may be reinforced through personalized guided imagery in portable audio form (CD/MP3/cassette etc).

Learning to succeed

Success is also a skill that can be learned. Through both hypnotic techniques and various kinds of attitude development, we teach how to be successful and how to be use setbacks creatively in building further success.

Anger Management

This concern often comes up in the field of performance (especially, though not exclusively, in sporting performance) and we frequently work with people who are seeking ways to control and channel anger and frustration in the form of better performance. Work on anger management teaches ways to effectively understand and curb anger in the practical performance situation as well as in other areas. (see also the anger management section)

Enhanced Ability

Many people find that skills and talents flourish and develop in surprising ways through work done with us.

Changing habits

Habits in performance are like other habits in life – you can rely on them to ‘turn up’. This is fine until change is needed, when you may well discover they keep on turning up anyway. Solution-focused coaching techniques and guided imagery assist in ‘turning off’ negative unconscious 'scripts' and in introducing new ones.

How will I know it’s working?

You will have direct and immediate evidence of success in improved feeling and functioning in your performance area. You will also be encouraged to notice and amplify improvements consciously. In general, the benefits will quickly become obvious.