Welcome

Listen, we get it.

We know sitting here to do this might feel a bit strange, different, weird, or scary. Or you might be fine.

In both cases the first thing to say is nice one for giving it a try. Its great to have you here and great that you’re giving this a go. It’s good to take yourself out of your comfort zone every once in a while and try new things, especially when those things are about developing yourself, learning new skills and empowering you to be the best you.

At the same time, you will become part of a national movement of like-minded people, opportunities, stories, adventures and communities of support.

It’s great that you’re here, as we start this part of the journey.

Harmonizer is packed full of skills, knowledge information and learning that has been built to help you to understand more about mental health, put context to your own mental health and to speak to the worldview of those involved in music, whether that is a hobby or as a career.

It has been designed to incorporate elements of DBT, CBT, mindfulness and a variety of tools and exercises. The goal is to help you to learn to manage difficult emotions by letting you experience, recognise and accept them. Then, as you learn to accept and regulate your emotions, you also become more able to change problematic response behaviours.

Let’s get the housekeeping underway.

We want to make sure we have taken your safety seriously, and we won’t skirt around asking the questions we need, to check in that you are safe.

So each week, before you get into things, there are a few standard questions which we will ask you.

These are coming next. At the same time as checking you are safe and if needed, getting you additional support, we are going to record some scores each week as a way of you being able to see your progress through Harmonizer.

We are totally confident that if you invest a bit of time in the things you learn, build a bit of routine around the programme and go into this from a position of curiosity and openness, you will see these scores improve.

Ultimately though, you can still feel a big benefit and transformation.

Answer these questions now. Again, the more open you can be and the more you put into Harmonizer, the more you will get out of it.

We will ask you these questionnaires today, on Week 5 and Week 8. They are standard clinical tools to measure for the presence of anxiety and depression. We will not be attempting to diagnose you or put labels on you.

Let’s talk about the format of each week.

We’re going to organise each week into three areas. We’re going to first set the scene, then we’re going to learn some information, skills, and techniques. Next we’re going to spend time putting it into practice and applying to our own lives. Think of it as learning, practicing, then gigging. You can’t jump straight on stage without putting some time into learning!

Harmonizer has been built with you in the lead of the changes you want to make, to equip you with new, impactful skills and to ultimately equip you with knowledge that you can run with and get better at using over time.

We could spend all day learning about the mind, but unless it’s real to you and your mind, what’s the point?

We want to make peace with the past, and look forward to the future. The main focus of Harmonizer is going to be on changes you can make in the present – learning skills to be the best version of yourself, with a life you want to live.

The idea is to now draw a line under anything that’s gone before, start with a clean slate and park any preconceptions.

If you’re worried, unconvinced or hesitant note down what you are thinking around that too! It’s totally understandable.

It’s not about us having answers at this stage, it’s about approaching the process with honesty, curiosity and a big dose of realism.