Denise is a therapist and member of the BACP. Running her own private practice, she offers a specialist service for musicians and those working across the music industry. She has supported a-list artists and across the board; DJ’s, Mangers, everyone involved in bringing the magic.

Growing up in a family steeped in music, and having performed with bands such as Blur and Primal Scream, Denise has seen the unique highs and lows working in music can entail from both a personal and professional perspective.

Drawing on the world’s largest research study, highlighting the unique issues faced, and offering healthy ways of working, she insists the industry safeguard musicians, and works to protect and prevent mental health crisis from occurring.

Denise has spoken on panels and delivered workshops for The Ivor’s Academy, SoundCloud, The London Jazz Festival, Sony Music and across the industry. She has written published articles for PRS, The Musicians Union and for the UK’s largest mental health care publication, ‘Therapy Today’.

Denise is a public speaker for the charity 'Help Musicians UK' and is a clinician, mentor, and public speaker for 'The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine'.

Burnout in the music industry isn’t random - it follows a pattern. A cycle of survival where creatives push through pressure, overextend, disconnect, crash, and rebuild… only to repeat it again.

This panel breaks that cycle down — and helps attendees identify exactly where they are within it.

We’ll also acknowledge that burnout doesn’t look the same for everyone. It can present as exhaustion, loss of creativity, anxiety, emotional numbness, high-functioning overdrive — or as deeper industry trauma that leads some to quietly struggle, withdraw, or leave altogether.

Drawing on the Continuum framework — developed through our work with artists and our retreats in the Scottish Highlands — we’ll explore how survival mode becomes normalised, why burnout keeps recurring even at high levels of success, and what it actually takes to interrupt the pattern.

Through a clear, relatable model, the audience will be guided to recognise their position in the cycle — whether they’re in overdrive, depletion, or recovery — and understand how to move forward. We’ll also share how we actively support artists to step out of burnout, rebuild safely, and re-emerge with greater clarity, resilience, and creative connection.

Led by a panel of mental health professionals alongside legacy music industry recording artists, this session brings together both clinical insight and lived experience at the highest level. Attendees will leave not just with awareness, but with grounded strategies to break the cycle, navigate industry pressures, and build a more sustainable, long-term career in music.

Presented by Love Vocals, with its mental health division SoundMind and Continuum retreats — supporting artists through burnout, recovery, and sustainable careers.