Counselling and psychotherapy for creatives is a space to understand what gets tangled up with the work, the perfectionism, self-doubt, burnout or fear of being seen. Therapy offers a space to understand what is happening underneath, and to develop a steadier relationship with your work and with yourself.
What you might be experiencing
You do not need to be in crisis to come to therapy. Sometimes something simply feels stuck, heavier than it used to, or difficult to understand alone.
You might recognise:
– Long stretches in which it feels impossible to begin or finish
– A critical voice that appears as soon as you try to make something
– Perfectionism and the feeling that nothing is good enough to show
– Fear of failing, or an equally powerful fear of succeeding
– Comparison and a painful sensitivity to feedback or being seen
– Periods of intense productivity followed by burnout or withdrawal
– Rejection and the uncertainty of freelance or portfolio work
– Feeling that your worth depends on what you produce
These experiences rarely stay neatly within the work. Money, relationships, family, loss and earlier experiences all belong to the same life as the making, and they can affect one another in complicated ways.
When creative work becomes difficult
For many people, creativity is closely connected to their sense of identity. This can be part of what makes creative work meaningful, but it can also make it painful. When making becomes tied to your sense of worth, each piece of work can begin to feel like a verdict on you. Experimenting becomes more difficult. Feedback feels more threatening. Rest can feel like failure.
Some of these patterns may have deeper roots. The ways you were judged, praised, misunderstood or shaped by other people’s expectations can quietly influence the terms under which you still work.
Creative training can leave its own mark: constant evaluation, competitive environments and the feeling that nothing is ever truly finished. Over time, an external culture of criticism can become an internal voice that follows you long after you have left the room.
How counselling or psychotherapy for creatives can help
Therapy offers somewhere to slow these patterns down and become curious about what is happening underneath them.
Together, we might explore the relationship between your creative work, your history and your sense of self. We can pay attention to the situations that trigger anxiety or self-criticism, the ways you have learned to protect yourself, and what makes it difficult to work or live as freely as you would like.
The purpose is not to make you more productive or to tell you how to create. It is to help you understand yourself more fully, so that your choices, and your relationship with your work, can feel more genuinely your own.
What working together is like
I work integratively, which means I adapt how I work to the person in front of me rather than applying one fixed method. We might pay attention to what is happening in your life now, how earlier experiences continue to shape it, and what develops between us in the therapeutic relationship. See more about my approach.
Why work with me
Through my design practice (which can be viewed here), I worked closely with artists, curators, editors, photographers and writers on publications and exhibition catalogues. This gave me first-hand insight into some of the pressures, uncertainties and critical environments that accompany creative work. I also studied Contemporary Art Theory, so I understand some of the ideas, institutions and critical frameworks within which creative work is produced, not only the feelings surrounding it.
Practical details
I offer 50-minute sessions in Leyton, East London and online, in English or German. Individual sessions cost £70, and a limited number of lower-cost places are available. See fees and practicalities.
How to get in touch
If something on this page resonates with you, you are welcome to get in touch. Email me at marit@go-to-therapy.org or use the contact form. I aim to reply within 24 hours.