Overcoming Stage Anxiety with a Solution-Focused Approach

ABSTRACT We conducted an intervention based on Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) with dance students to improve their performance and reduce their anxiety levels. Sixteen students from a dance conservatory participated in a quasi-experimental mixed research, test-posttest design without control group, consisting of five SFBT sessions. Their teachers evaluated their performance. The results showed the intervention was effective in reducing levels of performance anxiety (O1 = 126; O2 = 105.68), thought credibility and anxious thoughts (O1 = 64.43; O2 = 51.81), and self-perceived anxiety (O1 = 6.21; O2 = 4.58). The teachers reported an improvement in student performance (p < .05). Qualitative results demonstrate that participants could identify problems and take distance, transform negative thoughts into positive ones, and understand and expand their resources to face anxiety-related situations. These findings suggest that SFBT can be a valuable tool for dance teachers looking to enhance the performance of their students, reduce their anxiety levels to overcome stage fears, and improve their overall performance.