Belmont University launched a new music business elective this semester based in preventative mental health care for artists called Prehab: Preparation for Artist Life.
“Many schools of music train people to do music and perform better in all parts of the industry. I think everybody wanted to grow in this spot of helping artists with mental health issues because that just wasn’t part of the curriculum in terms of doing something before they jump into this madness,” said adjunct professor Al Andrews, who teaches the course.
The Curb College hired Andrews, an original founder of Porter’s Call –– a Nashville non-profit organization that provides specialized mental health care and resources for musical artists –– to teach the course.
Students in the course learn tools that let them view their lives through a kinder lens and can affect how a student assesses impactful moments from his or her past.
The curriculum breaks tools into topics such as childhood, the present self and how people can approach their futures.
Andrews centers the course on bridging the distance between the person in front of and behind the artist’s career.
He said he believes this is how an artist can be real, and it is within their power to do so.
“To be real is to follow your instincts, stick to your core values and pinpoint when your thoughts are actually your own,” said senior songwriting major and Prehab student Lou O’Neal.
O’Neal prioritizes her mental health in her career and said she attributes it to her success. Prehab taught her that examining the past can give insight on dealing with her future, she said.
“I’m able to deconstruct because I’ve revisited my past with mental health,” said O’Neal.
“It gets more critical when you have a career that really makes you realize: If you don’t have the skills to deconstruct your emotions or handle them, you’re going to have a really rough time when you could be having an easier one.”
Like any classical approach to mental health, Andrews chooses to prioritize the human mind before centering on the niche of working in the music industry.
He made this point in one class exercise where students wrote down their worst inner thoughts, scrambled them and read responses out loud.
This allowed students to relate to each other through similar answers and realize the harm in letting negative voices stay.
That class resonated with junior songwriting major and Prehab student Emma Mowery.
“All these people around me have these same feelings as me. I’m not crazy,” said Mowery. “I think that it’s encouraging in a way to know I’m not alone… I think all songwriting majors should take this class. There’s only so much songwriting and music classes can give us… We get resources for our success, but we don’t get resources for our mental health.”
The course’s open access format to mental health presents a disclaimer: Andrews is a professor and not a counselor.
He said he encourages all students to take their learned skills and mindsets into their careers and lifestyles through forms of therapy.
Class discussions serve a group interest and do not cater to individuals.
The class is only eight weeks long, but Andrews and Curb College plan to offer it again in spring 2025.
“If you flourish as a person, you’ll flourish as an artist,” said Andrews.
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This photo story was written by Ria Skyer.
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