About

Alexandra Frost is an Endorsed Clinical Psychologist, endorsed by the Psychology Board of Australia and eligible to provide Medicare-rebated clinical psychology services, with close to 30 years’ clinical experience and a professional performer herself. She began researching musical performance anxiety at Master’s level in 1997, later published in Medical Problems of Performing Artists (Liston, Frost and Mohr, 2003). She is a Full Member of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi), Founder and Chair of its Psychology for Performers and Creative Industries Interest Group, and a member of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH).

Who is Alexandra Frost?

I’m a Clinical Psychologist with close to 30 years of experience, and for all of that time I’ve also been a performer myself. That combination shapes how I work: I understand performance pressure clinically, and I understand it from the inside, having stepped onto stages and faced my own version of exactly what I now help others work through.

How did you end up specialising in performance psychology?

In 1997, I began Master’s research into musical performance anxiety, at a time when sport psychology had studied performance under pressure extensively but performing arts psychology barely had. That research was later published in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists. It set the direction for almost three decades of clinical work since, alongside my own experience treading the boards.

What are your qualifications and professional memberships?

I’m an Endorsed Clinical Psychologist, endorsed by the Psychology Board of Australia in the area of clinical psychology. I’m a Full Member of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi), and Founder and Chair of its Psychology for Performers and Creative Industries Interest Group. I’m also a member of the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) and the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH), and listed on the MEAA Equity Wellness Database.

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What therapeutic approaches do you use?

My work draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, somatic and sensorimotor approaches, systemic family therapy, and performance psychology, including mental skills training drawn from sport psychology research.

Rather than trying to eliminate anxiety or activation, the focus is on working with it, understanding what it means, and building the skills to perform well while it’s present.

Who do you work with?

Performing artists, visual artists and creatives of any discipline, doctors preparing for fellowship examinations, lawyers, dentists, executives and other high-stakes professionals, students, and the people around performers, teachers, directors, crew, and their families and partners.

What links them isn’t the professional domain, it’s the specific psychological demand of performing what you know, or who you are, in real time, under evaluation, when it matters.

What else do you do beyond individual client work?

I’m the founder of the Attuned Collective, a multidisciplinary community of psychologists, creative arts therapists and allied health professionals supporting the mental health and wellbeing of artists in South Australia, backed by an SA Mental Health Commission grant.

I also provide consulting, workshops and training for organisations, colleges and creative productions, and I’m developing four online courses bringing this work to a wider audience. I also enjoy spreading the word about this work in the art community, appearing on podcasts and radio as requested.

Why work with a Clinical Psychologist rather than a performance coach?

Being a registered Clinical Psychologist means I can move between a focused, practical tool for the week before your audition or exam, and something deeper, without you needing to find a different practitioner if it turns out to be more than performance pressure alone. Most people who come to me don’t need that depth, but it’s there if you do.

Is this an inclusive, affirming practice?

Yes. I provide LGBTQIA+ affirming, neurodiversity-affirming and culturally responsive care, including specific experience supporting international medical graduates navigating Australian exam formats and professional culture. Affirming practice isn’t an add-on, it’s core to how I work.