The Creative Process
There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into sun.
― Pablo Picasso
Depth psychology has many valuable and useful perspectives on the creative impulse and process, including on how to nurture and ignite the creative imagination.
Many artists or aspiring artists believe that a better understanding of technique will foster creativity. In addition to striving for technical proficiency, an understanding of your own process is the best foundation for a creatively-focused life. Psychotherapy which focuses on your creative process is not the same as “art therapy.” Art therapy employs artistic techniques for the purpose of therapeutic exploration, to explore parts of the self that are not accessible through other avenues. As we focus on your creativity, we may incorporate drawing, writing, song, or other forms of self-expression, but only if it naturally emerges as part of our process.
Societal values and the expectations of our parents or families can exert a powerful unconscious influence on what we believe is possible, including for persons drawn to an artistic or creative life. Understanding the impact of those influences can be liberating, expanding your capacity for and commitment to self-expression.
If you are a creative person struggling with motivation, self-doubt, perfectionism, self-criticism, procrastination, pessimism, isolation or other difficulties, and wish to become more at ease with yourself, your creativity and pursuing an artistic life or vocation, I would welcome your call. I have worked with many artists, and would welcome an opportunity to assist you in becoming freer to pursue the life and calling you desire.
The Kinds of Individuals Who Can Benefit from a Creativity-Focused Psychotherapy
- A singer who experiences such debilitating anxiety, he cannot perform on stage
- A writer struggling with long-term writer’s block
- An actor suffering from profound self-doubts after three recent auditions
- A visual artist who is berating himself for not painting in three weeks