Resilient Minds:
A Dancer's Guide to Mental Health
Understanding mental health in the dance world
Dance can bring a deep sense of purpose, expression and belonging. It can also place considerable demands on the mind as well as the body. Training, auditions, casting, injury, performance, uncertainty and changes within a career can all affect how a dancer feels about themselves and the world around them.
Resilient Minds is a digital flipbook written specifically for the dance world. Across 178 pages, it offers clear and compassionate information about mental health, together with practical ways to recognise when something may be wrong, care for yourself and know when further support may be needed.
Written by Terry Hyde MA MBACP FRSA, a former professional dancer and performers’ psychotherapist, it brings together his lived experience of the profession and his specialist therapeutic work with dancers.
Mental health deserves the same attention as physical health
Dancers become accustomed to noticing physical changes, responding to pain and working carefully towards recovery. Changes in mood, thinking or behaviour can be more difficult to recognise, particularly in a culture where determination and perseverance are highly valued.
Resilient Minds helps readers understand common mental health difficulties without turning ordinary human feelings into diagnoses. It explains what may be happening, how pressures within dance can contribute and when speaking to a suitably qualified professional may be helpful.
This is not a promise that every difficulty can be solved by reading a book. It is a thoughtful and practical guide intended to increase understanding, encourage earlier conversations and help dancers feel less alone with what they are experiencing.
What you will find inside:
Mental health within dance. An exploration of how training, professional expectations and the culture of dance can influence emotional wellbeing.
Anxiety, depression and stress. Clear explanations of common difficulties, how they may appear and why the experience can differ from one person to another.
Burnout and overwhelm. Help with recognising emotional and physical depletion before it becomes harder to manage.
Perfectionism and self doubt. A closer look at the pressures dancers can place upon themselves and the effect these may have on confidence, enjoyment and wellbeing.
Injury, recovery and identity. Support in understanding the emotional effect of injury, time away from dance and changes in how a dancer sees themselves.
Change and life beyond dance. Reflection on transitions within a dance career and the feelings that can accompany an ending or a new direction.
Practical support. Breathing, grounding, reflection and other accessible exercises that can be used in everyday life.
Seeking professional help. Guidance on recognising when further support may be needed and how to take the next step.
Supporting a dancer. Information for teachers, parents, health professionals and others who want to respond with greater understanding.
International support information. Revised sources of mental health and crisis support for readers in different countries.
Who Resilient Minds is for
Resilient Minds has been written for vocational dance students, professional dancers and people returning to or moving on from a dance career. It is equally relevant to dance teachers, parents, health professionals and anyone whose role involves supporting dancers.
Although the examples come from the dance world, the book does not assume that every reader has the same experience. Its purpose is to offer understanding and practical information while respecting the individuality of each dancer and their circumstances.
Your copy of Resilient Minds
Format: Digital flipbook.
Length: 178 pages.
Price: £7.99.
Access: Read online as a digital flipbook following purchase.
Included: Practical reflections and exercises, together with revised international mental health support information.
About Terry Hyde MA MBACP FRSA
Terry Hyde trained at the Royal Ballet School before dancing with the Royal Ballet and becoming a soloist with London’s Festival Ballet, now English National Ballet. His career later included musical theatre, film and television.
After retraining as a psychotherapist, Terry began specialising in the emotional and mental health needs of dancers and other performing artists. He is the founder of Counselling for Dancers and Help4Dancers, and the founder and CEO of STEPPS, a charity working to improve access to specialist mental health support across the UK dance world.
His writing draws upon a lifetime within the performing arts and his experience as a psychotherapist. He understands both the visible demands of dance and the private difficulties that dancers may find harder to speak about.
Purchase with confidence
If you decide that Resilient Minds is not right for you, please contact us within the guarantee period shown at checkout. Any refund will be arranged in accordance with the terms of that guarantee.
Give your mental wellbeing the attention it deserves
Understanding what you are experiencing can be an important first step. Resilient Minds offers informed, compassionate guidance created for dancers and the people who support them.
