I HELP STRESSED-OUT MUSICIANS GET PEACE OF MIND

"You have certainly had the most profound impact on my life imaginable. Every element in my life has done a complete 180 in the past year!"-Carin Miller

The Problem:

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

You struggle with severe performance anxiety and would like another option besides quitting, white-knuckling it, or becoming dependent on beta blockers.
You've taken many auditions but haven't achieved the success you hoped for. Now you're wondering if you should keep pursuing music or go in a different direction.
You have a successful career but you're not feeling fulfilled in the ways you hoped you would be. Something seems to be missing. You're not sure why or what to do about it.
You're feeling frustrated because sometimes you play really well but other times you can't seem to get out of your own way. You make things a lot harder and more stressful than they need to be.
You have trouble sleeping after concerts because you're obsessing about the one passage that didn't go the way you wanted. It's exhausting.
That one conductor/stand partner/co-worker annoys you to no end and the idea of spending your foreseeable future having to interact with this person makes you want to quit. You feel stuck.
You're an accomplished professional yet find it difficult to advocate on your own behalf. It's difficult to ask for what you want and you tend to do anything to avoid conflict. You feel resentful but the idea of communicating your needs doesn't feel good either.

If any of the above scenarios resonate with you, you are not alone.

"Before working with Michael, I was feeling a lot of anxiety, tension, and fear when I had to play something important or a solo or things like that. I wanted to take auditions, be principal bassoon, but I had this thought in the back of my head like, "But don't you remember, you're getting scared all the time. So maybe you can't do that.' But after working with Michael, I don't think that way." - Marlène Ngalissamy

Hi, I'm Michael.

As a professional freelance musician for fifteen years and a member of the Montreal Symphony for twelve, I know about the realities of a life in music-- the pressure to perform and to maintain the highest standards under any conditions, the competitiveness of the audition process, the demanding schedule, the travel, the politics, the culture, the difficult personalities and big egos, the physical and emotional demands, and the elusive nature of finding balance in your life.

And I know the toll it can all take on a musician's sense of wellbeing and happiness.I have personally experienced what it's like to suffer from severe performance anxiety, to feel so discouraged by the audition process that you wonder if you should do something else with your life, to lose a tenured position due to an orchestra declaring bankruptcy, to finally have attained your dream job and still feel unfulfilled, and to feel alone through it all.

And I also know what it's like to heal your relationship to music and to create peace of mind without having to lower your performance standards.

In fact, when you have peace of mind you play better than ever before.

"First we conquered the performance anxiety and confidence issues I was experiencing as a professional musician. Then we moved on to growth and expansion in every other area of my life. Coaching with Michael has truly been the best decision I've ever made for my own mental well-being!" - Stephanie Busby

The Process:

My approach is based on cultivating congruence with your whole self.

Too many self-help methods tell you to just create better habits, change your thoughts, choose who you want to be instead, or that you need more willpower, determination, and self-discipline.

The problem with the "toxic positivity" of these common methods is that they can create more tension, exhaustion, frustration, and shame. They don't effectively address underlying issues or help you cultivate a healthier relationship with yourself. They set up an internal struggle within yourself and when you are in conflict with yourself, a part of you always loses.

My work is based on three main principles:

Identifying the parts of yourself that are in conflict, creating resistance, and getting in the way of where you want to go.

Bringing compassion and understanding to those parts of yourself so you can discover what needs they are trying to fulfill.

Integrating those parts so you can become more aligned and congruent with yourself.

The Promise: Using a variety of cognitive, emotional, and somatic modalities, I will guide you through transformative state shifts that unlock new ways of thinking and feeling, fostering a deeper and more secure relationship with yourself. From this place, inner resistance dissolves leading to lasting peace and profound change.

"It was very valuable to explore the various parts of myself in a way that's judgment free and where I'm not trying to force any one part of myself to change, but instead to look at ways to help all the parts of myself support each other and work together. Now I'm really cueing in and listening to myself a lot more. I'm building direction from within instead of from what other people have told me over the course of my life about what I should be doing. So now I feel like I'm a lot more self-guided and a lot more integrated. I definitely feel like there has been a very substantial shift." - T.K. DeWitt

Why Choose me?

I am a professionally certified hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner, and life coach and have trained in a variety of somatic methodologies. I combine my expertise in change work with my 27 years of experience in the music world to help and support professional musicians who are going through their own struggles, whether in their career, their personal lives, or a combination of both.

I support my clients in the areas of:

Performance Excellence:
- Audition preparation
- Performing under pressure
- Overcoming negative self-talk
- Increasing focus and confidence.
Career issues:
- Overcoming burnout
- Managing imposter syndrome
- Improving difficult workplace relationships
- Advocating on your own behalf
- Attaining specific goals
- Creating greater work/life balance.
Personal development:
- Reducing everyday stress, anxiety and overwhelm
- Improving personal relationships
- Navigating difficult life transitions
- Overcoming procrastination
- Getting clarity around important decisions
- Creating healthy emotional boundaries
Wellness:
- Anxiety around health issues
- Insomnia
- Tinnitus
- Quitting smoking/vaping
- Managing chronic pain, headaches, and certain types of allergies
- Eliminating phobias
- Rewiring emotional triggers and healing past trauma

My rapidly growing list of satisfied clients includes professional musicians, writers, film directors, academics, entrepreneurs, and coaches.

"Working with Michael has deeply impacted my performance, my well-being, and helped me to recover from a deep episode of anxiety in a way that felt so genuine and rock solid within myself. You can't put a price on the place that Michael has helped me find within myself and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work with him." - David Eby

How to work with me

How to work with me

Each two-hour session provides the unhurried space for deep work, enabling clients to achieve their desired results in less time.

Special Offer for New Clients - Limited Availability:

Single session: $225 Now $150 for first-time clients – limited availability

Three sessions: $600 Now $450 for first-time clients – limited availability
Six sessions: $1100
Twelve sessions: $2000

Book a Free Consult

I HELP STRESSED-OUT MUSICIANS GET PEACE OF MIND

The Problem:

​

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

You struggle with severe performance anxiety and would like another option besides quitting, white-knuckling it, or becoming dependent on beta blockers.

You've taken many auditions but haven't achieved the success you hoped for. Now you're wondering if you should keep pursuing music or go in a different direction.

You have a successful career but you're not feeling fulfilled in the ways you hoped you would be. Something seems to be missing. You're not sure why or what to do about it.

You're feeling frustrated because sometimes you play really well but other times you can't seem to get out of your own way. You make things a lot harder and more stressful than they need to be.

You have trouble sleeping after concerts because you're obsessing about the one passage that didn't go the way you wanted. It's exhausting.

That one conductor/stand partner/co-worker annoys you to no end and the idea of spending your foreseeable future having to interact with this person makes you want to quit. You feel stuck.

You're an accomplished professional yet find it difficult to advocate on your own behalf. It's difficult to ask for what you want and you tend to do anything to avoid conflict. You feel resentful but the idea of communicating your needs doesn't feel good either.

If any of the above scenarios resonate with you, you are not alone.

​

​

​​

The Process:

​

My approach is based on cultivating congruence with your whole self.

Too many self-help methods tell you to just create better habits, change your thoughts, choose who you want to be instead, or that you need more willpower, determination, and self-discipline.

My work is based on three main principles:

Identifying the parts of yourself that are in conflict, creating resistance, and getting in the way of where you want to go.

Bringing compassion and understanding to those parts of yourself so you can discover what needs they are trying to fulfill.

Integrating those parts so you can become more aligned and congruent with yourself.

​

​

​

Why Choose me?

​

I support my clients in the areas of:

Performance Excellence:

Audition preparation

Performing under pressure

Overcoming negative self-talk

Increasing focus and confidence.

Career issues:

Overcoming burnout

Managing imposter syndrome

Improving difficult workplace relationships

Advocating on your own behalf

Attaining specific goals

Creating greater work/life balance.

Personal development:

Reducing everyday stress, anxiety and overwhelm

Improving personal relationships

Navigating difficult life transitions

Overcoming procrastination

Getting clarity around important decisions

Creating healthy emotional boundaries

Wellness:

Anxiety around health issues​

Insomnia

Tinnitus

Quitting smoking/vaping

Managing chronic pain, headaches, and certain types of allergies

Eliminating phobias

Rewiring emotional triggers and healing past trauma

​

My rapidly growing list of satisfied clients includes professional musicians, writers, film directors, academics, entrepreneurs, and coaches.​​​​

​​

How to work with me ​ Each two-hour session provides the unhurried space for deep work, enabling clients to achieve their desired results in less time. Special Offer for New Clients - Limited Availability:

Anxiety around health issues

My rapidly growing list of satisfied clients includes professional musicians, writers, film directors, academics, entrepreneurs, and coaches.

How to work with me

Each two-hour session provides the unhurried space for deep work, enabling clients to achieve their desired results in less time.

Special Offer for New Clients - Limited Availability: