Abstract

Affiliations:

Katrien Foubert is professor at the Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium, and in the Bachelor/Master program in Music Therapy at LUCA School of Arts. She is also Head of Research at the Department of Music & Drama, KU Leuven. As music therapist, she works at the University Psychiatric Centre KU Leuven, in a unit for patients with personality disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Her work is widely cited, and she is a sought-after guest lecturer across Europe. Additionally, she holds a guest professorship at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Interest in musicians’ health:

In 2022, Foubert collaborated on a study commissioned by the European Commission (DG EAC), conducted by LUCA School of Arts, HIVA-KU Leuven, and IDEWE (a Belgian organization for occupational health and safety), which examined the health and wellbeing of professional musicians and music creators in the EU, providing valuable insights for policy and practice. She is the co-founder of TUNE-UP, a newly established research consortium that brings together national and international academic research groups, the music industry, arts education and sector organizations to drive collective action for a healthier and more sustainable music profession. 

As a music therapist, researcher, and violinist, her work focuses on the intersection between performance, mental health, and the development of innovative therapeutic approaches.

She advocates for research that frames mental health issues - such as performance anxiety - not merely as individual issues, but as part of a complex system of interactions between personal factors and broader structural challenges related to performance values in the classical Western music industry.

Her work integrates psychodynamic concepts such as playfulness, the present moment, and vitality, offering musicians strategies for emotional self-regulation and stress management. Through her research, she is challenging traditional values in performance practices, approaching performance as a health-promoting and prosocial process.