Creative work often comes with visibility, intensity, and expectation. Whether you’re a performer, artist, writer, freelancer, or working in a creative industry, your work may be expressive and outward-facing – while much of the pressure you carry stays unseen.
Many creatives seek therapy not because something has “gone wrong”, but because the way they’ve been coping no longer feels sustainable. Success doesn’t always bring ease. Being expressive doesn’t always mean feeling supported. And doing work you care about doesn’t protect you from burnout, self-doubt, or disconnection.
Therapy can offer a space to slow down, reflect, and understand what’s happening beneath the surface – without having to perform, justify, or explain yourself.
I offer online therapy for creatives across the UK.
Creative lives can place unique demands on identity and emotional wellbeing. The work is often personal, visible, and closely tied to a sense of self. For many people, this brings both meaning and pressure.
You might recognise some of the following:
Your identity feels closely tied to your work or output
You experience cycles of confidence and self-doubt
You feel pressure to stay productive, relevant, or inspired
Success hasn’t brought the relief you expected
You struggle with comparison, imposter syndrome, or approval
Your work blurs into your sense of worth
You feel burnt out, flat, or emotionally disconnected
These experiences are common among creatives, performers, and artists – particularly those who are capable, committed, and used to pushing through.
Therapy offers a space to explore these patterns with curiosity rather than judgement.
Therapy isn’t about taking away your creativity or dulling your edge. It’s about understanding the patterns that shape how you relate to your work, your relationships, and yourself.
Working therapeutically can help you:
Separate your sense of worth from constant output or approval
Understand how earlier experiences shape current pressures
Recognise unhelpful patterns around performance and perfection
Develop more sustainable ways of relating to work and rest
Feel more grounded and emotionally present in your life
Create space for creativity without constant self-criticism
For many creatives, therapy becomes a place where something steadier and more authentic can emerge.
I’m JJ Almond, a therapist working online with creatives, performers, and LGBTQ+ professionals across the UK.
My work is grounded in Transactional Analysis (TA) and relational psychotherapy. This means we pay attention to how past experiences and relationships influence the patterns you’re living out now – in your creative work, your relationships, and your inner world.
Therapy with me is reflective rather than performative, curious rather than clinical. I’m interested in what’s happening beneath the surface, not in rushing towards fixes or outcomes. Our work is collaborative and paced to suit you, creating space for insight, honesty, and change that feels real rather than forced.
You don’t need to have the right words, a clear goal, or a dramatic reason to begin. Often, it starts with noticing that something feels heavy, repetitive, or out of alignment.
This work may be a good fit if you:
Identify as creative, artistic, or work in a visible role
Are a performer, artist, writer, freelancer, or creative professional
Feel emotionally aware but quietly stuck or burnt out
Are tired of performing competence while struggling inside
Want a thoughtful, relational approach to therapy
It may be less suitable if you’re looking for short-term techniques, coaching-style solutions, or rapid symptom management without deeper exploration.
Many creatives seek therapy precisely because they are functioning. Therapy isn’t only for crisis – it can be a space to understand what it’s costing you to keep going as you are.
Yes. Online therapy offers flexibility and consistency, which many creatives value. The therapeutic relationship remains central, regardless of whether sessions take place online or in person.
That’s very common. Therapy can help you explore how your relationship with work developed, what it gives you, and what it asks of you – without needing to give it up.
Yes. I work with performers, artists, and people in a wide range of creative and expressive roles, including those whose work involves visibility and public engagement.
