Artists and the Therapeutic Experience
Creative people, especially aspiring and professional artists, can greatly benefit from therapy. The artist’s path involves the need to grapple with identity and self-worth throughout the creative process. As a licensed clinical psychologist and former professional musician, I am uniquely familiar with some of the principal challenges artists face, impacting mental health and wellness, confidence, motivation, and creative output. In this post, I’ll share some perspectives gained from years of working with people committed to creative paths, including how therapy can help and even be transformative.
“Artist, Know Thyself”
The cultivation of self-awareness is a major benefit of any therapy. When we know ourselves more deeply- including our hopes, fears, motivations, needs, and values- our lives become richer and fuller. Artists must explore the self in order to manifest their art, and therapy is particularly well-suited for this. The musician, the actor, the painter, the comedian, the writer… all must contend with the questions “how do I see the world?” and “what do I want to say through my art?” What’s required is vulnerability, which I like to loosely define as the courage to be honest without guarantee of what happens next.
When artists are vulnerable, this means they can choose to take the risk of sharing their creative visions. Nonetheless, this can be a challenge because of not knowing how their work will be received or evaluated, questions surrounding self-worth (“am I good enough?”) and fear of rejection. On this last point, artists often conflate critical evaluations of their art as critical evaluations of the self, since the art cannot be separated from the person who created it.
Common Challenges and How Therapy Can Help
In therapy, it’s important to identify how unrealistic expectations may be hindering the artist from enjoying a more rewarding and productive creative process. For instance, perfectionism or the need to be “great” can lead to demotivation and even demoralization. Many artists also have the tendency to fall into an “all or nothing” relationship with their creative work, which can overwhelm and crowd out other aspects of life.
In these scenarios, guilt and self-criticism can ensue, leading to a vicious cycle of passivity and unhealthy coping. To counter this, we might focus on building actionable steps to hone one’s artistic craft, setting realistic behavioral goals, and cultivating a more flexible attitude around what constitutes growth and success. In other words, being an artist takes work, patience, and humility. But truly internalizing this can be relieving and even liberating because it lowers the stakes.
For many young artists (including art students), questions emerge around the financial risks of pursuing creative professional paths, not to mention family or cultural pressures to build a more “conventional” career. For these reasons and many more, it isn’t surprising that artists commonly struggle with anxiety, depression, burnout, creative blocks, and even destabilizing periods of self-doubt.
When working with artists, my first aim is to provide a holistic assessment. This means exploring family and cultural background, salient identities, personal values, and, of course, one’s story of how they chose to become an artist. In doing so, we can uncover motivations, dreams, fears, and expectations. Through collaborative therapeutic engagement, clients build clarity around why they want to be an artist while developing resilience to better manage self-doubt and the difficult side of vulnerability.
Common therapeutic questions include “What’s important to you in manifesting your vision?” “What are you afraid of?” “What would it be like if your art wasn’t received well?” “What would it be like if it was?” “What does being successful look like?” Additionally, we take time to address practical and clinical challenges, which can include procrastination, avoidance, making time for artistic practice and creative execution, building a healthier daily routine, and addressing possible depression and anxiety.
Fortunately, in my experience, I’ve found that artists often come away from therapy not only with a renewed sense of their creative commitments but also a more balanced and empowered life. Finding ways to accommodate artistic work into the complexity of daily life can lead to improved mental health outcomes, in addition to a healthier relationship with one’s artistic identity.
What Next
If you are on the artistic path and looking for a therapeutic experience where you can be validated and understood, I hope some of my perspectives here can be helpful and promote further reflection. I hope also that you can recognize that you are not alone, as many artists struggle with similar challenges. Feel free to browse my profile or reach out if you are interested in seeing if I can be a good fit for you.
