Sample Strategies

Performance Strategies are a variety of mind-based tools derived from the applied sports and performance psychology fields. The purpose of them is to help performers enhance their experience on stage. Some techniques provide new ways of thinking, others include practice suggestions or ways to attend to physiological or emotional aspects of performing. Every performer experiences being [...]

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FAQs

How do I sign up for a session?

I am scheduling one-to-one sessions through the High Performance Program at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center. Just fill out an email request or call the number posted on the contact page. We will schedule a session at your convenience.

I don’t live in the Boston area. Is it possible to have a session over the phone? 

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Publications

My specialty in performance psychology has met with some interest by radio hosts and publishers. So, I was excited to be interviewed by Adam Schwartz from Indiana Public Media and by pianist and radio host Virginia Eskin as part of her radio special on women in music. Below you find links to these interviews: Indian [...]

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Biography

My name is Christine Vitale. A native of Germany, I started playing the violin when I was six years old. I became serious about wanting to become a musician at around age 15 when I studied at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany with Vesselin Paraschkevov. In 1995, I received the Starling Scholarship Award and I moved to the United States to study at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) with Kurt Sassmannshaus and Piotr Milewski, as well as with Dorothy DeLay. After years of stuying there and in Boston, I received my Masters of Music degree from Boston University College of Fine Arts, where I studied with the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Malcolm Lowe. Currently, I am a member of the Boston Ballet Orchestra and I perform regularly with the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony Orchestras.

In 2004, I decided to go back to school and pursue a doctoral degree in Counseling with a specialization in performance/sport psychology from Boston University. My specialty has been to transfer the mind-based methods for optimal performance that work well for athletes to musicians. Being trained and licensed as a Counseling Psychologist and having a background in music has given me a unique and strong position of expertise. My strategies are based on research and applied techniques from sport psychology, positive psychology, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. I am a psychologist at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center where I currently work with performers through the High Performance Program.

I have presented research and techniques at professional conferences of the APA (American Psychological Association), AASP (Association of Applied Sport Psychology), and of ASTA (American String Teacher Association). In addition, I have given workshops at New England Conservatory (NEC), Berklee College of Music, The Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, Boston University, Wellesley College, University of Massachusetts in Lowell, and Oklahoma State University.