Therapy for artists, from someone who understands the studio
Therapy for artists in New York, for painters, sculptors, musicians, dancers, actors and multidisciplinary practitioners whose art is not just a job but a way of being in the world.
Making art means exposing something private and then handing it to strangers to judge. That takes courage, and it can leave you raw. I offer psychotherapy and holistic psychiatric care shaped by my own study of visual art and feminist philosophy, for artists navigating performance anxiety, critique, rejection, financial strain and the vulnerability of being seen.
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“You do not have to stay in pain to keep making meaningful art. The depth is yours; the suffering is not the source of it.”
Many artists fear therapy will smooth away their edges. My aim is the opposite: to protect your sensitivity while easing what is genuinely harming you.
When your art is part of who you are
For many artists the line between the work and the self is thin by necessity. That closeness is what makes art alive, and also what makes its setbacks so painful.
An artist's practice is rarely a nine-to-five. It is a vocation that shapes how you see, how you spend your time and how you understand yourself. When a show is cancelled, an audition goes badly or a review is unkind, it can feel as though something essential has been dismissed. Therapy for artists begins by honouring that intensity rather than asking you to treat your art as just another career.
I bring a genuine love of art into my work. Alongside my clinical training at Johns Hopkins, I have studied visual art, gender theory and feminist thought, and those interests shape how I listen. I am interested in your materials, your influences and the questions your work is asking, because they often reveal the emotional questions you are living with too. You will not need to explain why your practice matters.
At the same time, I am a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner, so I can recognise when anxiety, depression, trauma or attention difficulties are part of the picture, and offer assessment and treatment where that would help. The goal is not to make your life tidier at the expense of your art, but to help you build a life in which your practice can continue for the long term.
Performance anxiety and the moment of exposure
For musicians, actors and dancers, anxiety often peaks on stage or in the audition room. For visual artists it can arrive at the opening, the studio visit or the moment a piece leaves the studio. The body reacts as though under threat: shaking hands, a blank mind, an urge to flee. Somatic work helps you recognise these responses and build a felt sense of safety, so exposure becomes more bearable and less consuming.
Critique, rejection and the art economy
Artists face a volume of rejection that few other professions match: grant applications, residencies, galleries, casting calls. Add precarious income, day jobs that drain your energy and an art world with its own hierarchies, and it is no surprise that self-doubt creeps in. We look at how these pressures land in you specifically, and at ways to hold critique without letting it define your worth as an artist.
Intensity, mood and the artistic temperament
Many artists experience emotions vividly, with periods of absorption followed by crashes. Sometimes that is simply how a creative temperament moves; sometimes it signals something that deserves clinical attention. I take time to understand your patterns before drawing conclusions, and if medication is ever considered, we discuss openly how it might affect your practice and adjust gradually and collaboratively.
Common struggles for working artists
Artists come to therapy for many reasons. Some arrive after a difficult show or a long stretch without making anything. Others want support with mood, anxiety or relationships that have been strained by the demands of an artistic life. You are welcome whether your practice is thriving or quietly in trouble.
- Stage fright and audition nerves
- Dread before openings or premieres
- Painful reactions to reviews
- Repeated rejection from galleries or casting
- Financial insecurity and day-job fatigue
- Feeling exposed by your own work
- Mood swings between projects
- Isolation in the studio
- Fear that therapy will change your art
An approach that takes art seriously
Sessions are long enough to go somewhere. We might talk about a piece you are stuck on, a rehearsal that left you shaken or a memory that keeps returning. I draw on several traditions, choosing what fits you, so the work feels like a conversation between two curious people rather than a checklist.
Psychoanalytic curiosity
Art and the unconscious have always been close companions. Psychoanalytic inquiry lets us explore the images, repetitions and themes that run through both your work and your life, often revealing why certain wounds keep resurfacing in the studio or on stage.
Somatic regulation for performance
Through gentle body-based work, and Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga where it suits you, you can learn to notice and steady your physical response to exposure. This is especially useful for performers whose instrument is their own body and voice.
Feminist and cultural lens
Questions of who gets seen, funded and taken seriously in the arts are not abstract. A feminist and culturally aware approach helps us separate your personal struggles from the structural pressures that shape an artist's career.
Thoughtful medication care
If anxiety, depression or ADHD is affecting your practice, I can assess and, where appropriate, prescribe. We go slowly and pay close attention to how any medication affects focus, feeling and expression, adjusting together rather than accepting trade-offs you dislike.
Mindfulness for the long view
Mindfulness practice can help you stay present with the uncertainty that comes with making art, without being swept away by catastrophic thinking about the next show, the next grant or the next review.
Trauma-informed and affirming
Many artists carry histories that find their way into the work. I approach trauma with care and pace, and I am LGBTQIA+ affirming, so you can bring every part of your identity and your practice without having to edit yourself.
Holding your art with less fear
Every artist's experience is different, and no particular outcome can be promised, but these are the kinds of changes people tend to notice over time.
Before
- Each rejection reopens an old wound
- The body panics before performing
- The work carries all your self-worth
- Long stretches of avoidance
- Feeling alone with your practice
Over time
- Setbacks hurt but do not define you
- More steadiness in moments of exposure
- A self that exists beyond the work
- Returning to the studio with less dread
- A trusted space to think out loud
Beginning therapy as an artist
A clear sequence, with space for your practice to shape how we work.
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1
Free 15-minute call 15 minutes
You tell me a little about your practice and what is weighing on you. I answer your questions about how I work, including any worries about therapy or medication affecting your art, and we see whether it feels like a good match.
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2
Getting to know you and your art
In our first full session I take a careful history: your health, background, relationships and the place art has held in your life. You are welcome to bring images, recordings or writing if it helps me understand what you do.
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3
Regular sessions
We meet in 60 or 90-minute sessions, depending on what suits you. We can plan around tours, residencies, rehearsals and install weeks, and adjust the focus as your practice moves through quieter and more intense phases.
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4
Reflecting on progress
Periodically we look back at what has changed in your mood, your relationships and your practice. If medication or supplements are involved, these reviews are where we consider any careful, gradual adjustments together.
Francesca Rome-Marie, PMHNP-BC
I bring together psychiatry, psychotherapy, somatic work and whole-body health, informed by years in primary care and further study in gender theory, feminist thought, culture and visual art.
I keep a deliberately small caseload so that every client receives consistent, unhurried and genuinely attentive care, held within one relationship rather than split across several providers.
Clear, upfront rates
I don't accept insurance. Modern Holistic Psychiatry is an out-of-network provider, so sessions are paid for directly. Depending on your plan, you may be able to claim reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits.
Find out how much your insurance may coverNeed urgent support? If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.
Therapy for Artists FAQs
Do you only work with professional or established artists?
Not at all. I see emerging artists, mid-career practitioners, students finishing MFAs and people returning to art after years away. What matters is that your artistic practice is central to how you understand yourself. Recognition, sales or representation are not entry requirements. Some of the most painful struggles happen precisely in the early, uncertain years, when the commitment is total and the external validation is scarce.
Will therapy or medication flatten my emotions and affect my art?
It is a fair question, and one I welcome. Psychotherapy aims to help you relate differently to strong feelings, not to remove them. If we consider medication, we discuss your concerns about expression and intensity before starting, begin carefully and review how you feel. If something is muting you in a way you do not want, we change course together. Your sense of yourself as an artist is part of what we protect.
Can therapy help with stage fright and performance anxiety?
Yes. Performance anxiety in musicians, actors and dancers usually involves both the mind and the body. We explore the meanings attached to being watched and evaluated, and use somatic and mindfulness-based tools to help your nervous system tolerate the moment of performance. Where anxiety is severe or persistent, I can also discuss whether medication might help, as part of a broader, considered plan.
What does your background in visual art add to therapy?
My studies in visual art, alongside gender theory and global culture, mean I understand art as a serious form of thinking rather than a hobby. In practice that means I can engage with your references and your process, and I am attentive to how images and metaphors carry emotional meaning. Many artists tell me it is a relief not to have to justify why their practice matters before we can talk about how they feel.
I make work about my own trauma. Is that something we can explore?
Yes, gently. Making art from painful experience can be powerful, but it can also reopen wounds, particularly when the work is exhibited or performed and you have little control over how others respond. We can look at how you want to hold that material, what support you need around showing it, and how to care for your nervous system during intense periods of making.
How is therapy for artists different from your therapy for creatives?
There is overlap, but the emphasis differs. Therapy for creatives tends to focus on commercial creative careers, client work and burnout in creative industries. Therapy for artists is centred on the vocation of making art itself: exposure, critique, the art world, performance and the deep bond between your identity and your practice. In your consultation we can talk about which focus fits you best.
Do you accept insurance?
I am out of network and do not accept insurance directly. Clients pay for sessions and may submit claims for reimbursement through their out-of-network benefits; I provide the paperwork to do so. Because many artists live with variable income, I encourage you to check your coverage before we begin so the financial side does not become another source of stress.
Keep your depth, ease the strain
A free 15-minute consultation is a chance to talk about your practice and what you need. There is no obligation, just a conversation.