About Me

Tobias Dolle, M.Sc.

I’m a German psychologist (M.Sc.) and jazz musician working at the intersection of mental health, music, and performance.

I know what it feels like to push for perfection and lose your connection to the music — I’ve been there myself.

My work combines clinical depth psychology with over two decades of experience as a touring musician and producer. It bridges the gap between psychological research and the realities of creative work — helping artists and institutions translate mental performance into sustainable success.

I’ve performed from New Orleans to Cairo and collaborated with some of Europe’s and America’s most renowned jazz artists — among them Alexander von Schlippenbach, Markus Stockhausen, Leroy Jones, and Wayne Escoffery. My productions blending jazz and hip hop have reached over 10 million streams worldwide.

As a psychologist, I focus on what helps creative minds stay resilient, focused, and connected to their art. My background includes studies in clinical psychology, mindfulness research, and therapeutic approaches from ACT, CBT, systemic, and psychodynamic frameworks. I’m a member of the German Psychologists Association (DPTV), the German Psychotherapists Network (DPNW), GEMA, and the Mental Health in Music Association.

Over the past years, I’ve supported emerging and professional musicians through creative blocks, performance anxiety, burnout symptoms, and major career transitions. I’ve also lectured and given talks at institutions such as the Universities of Münster and Mainz and the SAP Institute on mental health in the music industry.

The data is clear: musicians are up to three times more likely to experience anxiety or depression than the general population.

But the solution isn’t to “think positive” — it’s to understand the psychology of creativity, stress, and flow.

That’s why I developed my online and live courses — science-based frameworks that help musicians and music producers navigate pressure, reconnect with their inner compass, and perform with authenticity and focus.

Not quick fixes, but grounded tools — built on science, proven in sound.

The Problem

Musicians are up to 3x more likely to experience anxiety and depression than the general population.

Most don’t have access to tools designed for their creative reality.

So I built one.

My Solution

I offer two live programs designed for artists who want to work with more clarity, focus, and creative freedom:

  1. For performing musicians — on mental health, stage presence, and sustainable creativity.

  2. For music producers — on focus, flow, and finishing more tracks without burning out. (coming soon)

My approach is grounded in psychology and shaped by real musical experience — a clear, structured way to strengthen focus, resilience, and flow in creative work.

Who I work with

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Who I work with *

  • Emerging artists trying to stay sane in a chaotic industry

  • Pros looking to unlock focus, discipline, and creative momentum

  • Institutions (music schools, labels, collectives) that take mental health seriously

What I offer

• Comprehensive live online courses on mental health and creative focus for musicians and music producers

• Group workshops and guest lectures for music institutions and creative teams (contact via assistant@tobiasdolle.com)

• A limited number of 1:1 coaching sessions for professional and evolving artists (contact also via assistant@tobiasdolle.com)

interested in working with me?

Media & Interviews

Selected features and interviews (in German):

• Podcast: what is practice? Sind deine Ziele wirklich deine eigenen, Tobias Dolle?

• Interview: bagbeastmusic-blog: “Kreativität braucht Leere”

(Both in German – discussing mental health, creative resilience, and flow in the music industry.)

Research, Clinical Experience & Teaching

Over the past years, I’ve supported emerging and professional musicians through creative blocks, performance anxiety, burnout symptoms, and major career transitions — both 1:1 and in group settings, live and online.

I also serve as Mental Health Expert and Consultant for Musicians at ZPOP (Centre for Popular Music, Potsdam, Germany), where I develop and deliver evidence-based mental health workshops for students and staff.

My academic background includes several research contributions, among them my master’s thesis on the measurement of mindfulness, studies on the mental health of children of parents with mental illness, and a forthcoming peer-reviewed article “Can Meditation Help the Environment? Examining Cross-Sectional Associations between Meditation Goals and Outcomes in Experienced and Novice Meditators” published in the journal Mindfulness (Springer).

In addition, I’ve been invited to speak at several institutions, including the Universities of Münster and Mainz and the SAP Institute Bochum, where I lecture on creativity, stress, and wellbeing in the music industry.

My work is informed by contemporary research on musicians’ mental health and creativity — especially studies by Musgrave & Gross, the EQUITY Study (2022), and Fernholz et al. (2019).