Rebel with a voice.

Therapy Would Kill My Creativity

By Douglas Eby

“I want to keep my sufferings. They are part of me and my art.” Painter Edvard Munch
“I had the feeling therapy was good for my writing very early on.” Filmmaker Agnes Jaoui

Referring to Munch’s statement, psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison notes in her book Touched with fire: Manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament:
“This is a common concern. Many artists and writers believe that turmoil, suffering, and extremes in emotional experience are integral not only to the human condition but to their abilities as artists.”
She adds that many fear that “psychiatric treatment will transform them into normal, well-adjusted, dampened, and bloodless souls — unable, or unmotivated, to write, paint, or compose.”

 “There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that, compared to ‘normal’ individuals, artists, writers, and creative people in general, are both psychologically ‘sicker’ — that is, they score higher on a wide variety of measures of psychopathology — and psychologically healthier (for example, they show quite elevated scores on measures of self-confidence and ego strength).”From post: Creativity and madness: The Abnormal Psychology of Creativity.
Of course, therapy is not only for presumed disorders – it can be counseling for greater self-awareness. And the experience depends as much on the expertise and personality of the therapist as the form of psychotherapy they most use.

The values of therapy for creative people can include dealing with real mental health problems, and also increased self-awareness and understanding of other people, all of which can be valuable for anyone, but particularly for enhancing creative expression.
Woody Allen has had decades of therapy, and noted, “People used to say, You’re using psychoanalysis as a crutch. And I would say, Yes. You’re hitting it exactly on the nose. I’m using it as a crutch.”

“I used to call therapy my part-time job.”  Actor Michelle Pfeiffer

Psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo, M.A., MFT, works with many screenwriters, and says his clients “have the usual issues everyone has, except they’re struggling in one of the most difficult, arbitrary, and maddening businesses on the planet.”
[From article: Therapist to the Hollywood Stars.]
In our interview several years ago, actor Heather Graham made a thoughtful summary of why she chose to use therapy:

“Acting is telling a story, and you’re part of telling that story… in some ways therapy helps more than acting class. You realize why you operate in certain ways.”

And that can help any of us be more authentic, aware, alive – and creative.

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2010/06/therapy-would-kill-my-creativity/