Therapy for Actors, Musicians, & Creatives in Los Angeles
counseling for l.a.-based artists & entertainers
As a creative or artist, you have access to wonder, beauty, and unique perspective—but this doesn’t always feel good. We get it! The Kindman & Co. team approaches therapy from a place of strength and empowerment. Your talent and passion for creativity give you a unique outlet for dealing with big feelings, processing tough times, and exploring the deepest depths of who you are. That’s the good news. The more difficult side of creativity is that many artists and creatives are big feelers. Your empathy and passion drive your work, but they’re also exhausting. We understand. Through therapy, we help creative folx develop as people, lead thriving lives, run successful businesses, and generally feel greater freedom and inspiration in their creative endeavors.
how therapy helps
Everyone who visits us is unique, and we offer therapy that is geared toward creating a space for you to safely explore what makes you tick. It’s hard to say exactly what therapy for creatives and artists can do, but we’ve included some examples below to help you better understand possible avenues for us to explore.
artistic outlets are leaving you feeling drained & you’re not motivated
Whether your art is visual, written, performative, or anything between, you likely relate to feeling drained by your work at times. Many creatives visit us struggling with feeling exhausted by their creative work or completely unmotivated to complete projects. If your creative outlet is something you make time for and not your “day job,” this may mean you’re just not doing creative stuff anymore. If you are working as an artist, this exhaustion and lack of motivation makes it difficult for you to do work to support yourself and your family. Therapy can help you navigate some of these difficult moments when creativity seems impossible. The work we do encourages creatives to dive deeper into their expressive medium. Therapy allows you to explore new avenues for creativity, build resilience, and find motivation in challenging times. When you just can’t find that motivation, therapy also helps you find the grace to offer yourself a little more compassion.
you’re experiencing creative block
The dreaded creative block is a very real thing for many of our artists. Actually, this experience isn’t as unique to creative folx as we so often think. People experience blocks in many parts of their life. Maybe you’ve heard of the “the yips,” a kind of block experienced by athletes. Suddenly, the athlete’s body loses the muscle memory and innate and developed talent to do their sport. If a trained athlete can suddenly lose the physical ability to throw a baseball or make a jump shot, it makes a lot of sense that creatives have similar experiences. Creative block leaves you suddenly unable to do something you’ve been working on for years. Every stroke of your paintbrush or word on the page is “not right”. The more you focus on it and try to change it, the worse it seems to get. Therapy is a great resource for those who are experiencing creative yips. We can explore some mindfulness techniques and other coping skills to help you unblock your creative flow.
you feel anxious & doubt yourself
Our culture doesn’t give artistic work a lot of merit. Creatives and artists are viewed as wasting time or not having a “real” job. At the same time, it rewards certain creatives with attention and money. It’s a bizarre cultural reality, but creatives feel themselves caught between this false dichotomy that tells us our work doesn’t matter unless we’re famous or can profit from it. Have you been told that, “You are no [insert name of famous person in your artistic medium]?” It’s no surprise that anxiety and self-doubt are common for creatives. Therapy can help you understand and value creative expression whether you’re in a multi-platinum record selling band or you paint your life story on grains of rice that you never show anyone. You and your art are valuable and valued.
struggles within artistic partnerships
Our team recognizes the diversity of partnership, and that sometimes, the people who benefit most from relationship therapy aren’t romantic partners. We also get that feeling disconnected or having regular conflict with your creative partners will have a significant impact on the work you can produce together and your quality of life. If you’re struggling with an artistic collaboration (bandmates, co-stars, creative business partners, team-based art projects, etc.), we can help you find accord and work together to create something great.
creativity & big feelings
Artists are more likely to be tuned into what’s going on around them. After all, your passion and drive come from sharing the emotions, stories, and images of the world within and around you. This may leave you feeling things more deeply than others. Both the beauty and the cruelty of the world and your environment can really weigh on you. This can feel great when it leads to creative outpouring, but what about when you’re just trying to be a person in the world? We get it, and we can help you harness your big feelings for artistic creation while learning coping skills to handle the emotions that can be draining or overwhelming.
let's begin.
You are not in this alone. You were never meant to be. Each and every one of us innately possesses strengths to live more enriching, joyful lives; let us help you to (re) connect to your strengths to find well-being.
