ABSTRACT
The authors of this chapter arrive at their individual understanding of performance psychology for dancers from two remarkable vantage points. Miriam Rowan is a doctoral candidate of the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium in Palo Alto, California, where she has honed expertise in clinical psychology. Rowan is also firmly rooted in the world of classical ballet with an extensive career as a ballet dancer. She trained at the School of American Ballet in New York City, before continuing professionally for seven years, six with the San Francisco Ballet. Miriam’s knowledge of sport and performance psychology has origins in her application of various mental approaches, including mindfulness, throughout her development as a dancer, and her reflections on the seemingly inherent developmental challenges of training. Challenges she observed included bullying in dance schools, poor self-esteem and harsh evaluations of one’s body image among classmates, exposure to high levels of public scrutiny, and lack of alternative skill sets for post-dance career stability. She noticed some dancers seemed to benefit from strong-mindedness. Her interest grew into a major career change, and her present research activities include cognitive and mindfulness approaches to treatment of social anxiety and the treatment and prevention of eating disorders in athletes.
