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Therapy for Artists in NYC: Support for Creative Souls
Therapy for artists and creatives in NYC that nurtures what makes you extraordinary, while building the resilience to sustain it.
Therapy for artists helps musicians, actors, visual artists, writers and designers work through creative blocks, performance anxiety, rejection and the financial stressors of a creative life. I’m Sharon Kaye O’Connor, LCSW, a psychotherapist and an artist, and I offer remote therapy sessions across New York State. My sessions are 45-minutes and I accept Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna and Medicare.
How Therapy for Artists Can Help
- Dissolve creative blocks rooted in fear, perfectionism, or old stories
- Navigate performance anxiety while keeping your artistic sensitivity
- Separate your self-worth from productivity and external validation
- Process rejection and criticism without taking it as personal failure
- Manage financial anxiety with practical strategies and mindset shifts
- Set boundaries that protect your creative energy, without guilt
- Integrate your spiritual beliefs with your creative practice
- Release imposter syndrome and recognize your genuine talents
Booking and Fees
Sessions are audio, via phone, Spruce App, or Signal App.
Insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield (excluding Medicaid and Exchange plans), Aetna, Medicare.
What to expect: in your first session we’ll talk about your creative work, the challenges you’re facing, and what you hope to gain, and see if we’re a good fit.
Contact me for fees
45-minute sessions
Sliding scale available on a limited basis
How to Book
Contact me at soconnorlcsw@gmail.com or use the booking form to schedule your initial consultation. I typically respond within 24-48 hours.
Paying for psychotherapy yourself or not using insurance (including sliding-scale sessions)? You can request a Good Faith Estimate at any time through the contact page, in writing before your first session.
For creatives, therapy isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about nurturing what makes you extraordinary.
Your Work Deserves Understanding
Your creative work is more than a job. It’s an extension of who you are.
Painters, actors, musicians, writers, designers: you pour your inner world into your art, often without stability or conventional “success.” It’s a calling that won’t let you go.
Creative life asks you to stay open enough to create while protecting yourself from the exposure that brings. That tension can leave you feeling alive and depleted at once.
Therapy for Artists NYC: Your Creative Journey
I work with anyone who creates: full-time artists, or people with a 9–5 who want to honor their artistic identity. Together we explore:
- Your identity as an artist, creative blocks, and non-traditional career paths
- Performance anxiety, heightened sensitivity, and feeling raw or exposed
- Relationships and friendships when your schedule isn’t 9–5
- Meaning and spirituality, including “spiritual but not religious” paths
You are the expert in your own creative experience. I’m here as your empathic guide.
Challenges Artists, Creatives, and Entertainers Often Face
Whether you paint, write, perform, produce music, or design, certain struggles unite artists across disciplines:
Creative blocks
Inspiration ebbs and flows, sometimes leaving you in a dry spell, cut off from the flow that once came naturally.
Performance anxiety
Fear of judgment or failure stops you sharing your work or performing at your best.
Imposter syndrome and self-doubt
You question whether your success is deserved, or if you’re fooling everyone.
Comparing yourself to others
Others’ achievements trigger feelings of inadequacy about your own progress and talent.
Handling rejection and criticism
Constant feedback and rejection take a toll on your confidence and motivation.
Financial instability
Unpredictable income creates stress that makes it hard to focus on meaningful work.
Work-life balance
Irregular schedules complicate relationships and make self-care feel out of reach.
Burnout and mental health
Pushing through exhaustion starts to feel normal, instead of something to address.
Why Artists Need Specialized Support
Your sensitivity is both your superpower and your vulnerability. As a psychotherapist and artist, I understand that:
Creative and personal identity are intertwined
When your art suffers, you suffer. Not being able to create cuts off how you process the world.
Public judgment comes with the work
Each rejection can feel like a verdict on your worth, even when you know it isn’t.
Financial instability adds its own anxiety
A “stable job” can cost the time and energy your craft needs.
These realities aren’t problems to fix
They’re the landscape you navigate, and your therapy should honor every part of it.
In Their Words
Reflections from individuals and families who have worked with Sharon, shared in their own words.
“She makes you feel seen”
— Reader
“Sharon gave me permission to listen to my nervous system and honor it.”
— Reader
“”Sharon’s brilliant and gentle guide to navigating life as an autistic person is healing, inspiring and poetic.”
— Reader
“Her knowledge and careful attention to details have equipped our teachers with concrete tools and strategies to support our students in the classroom”
— Educator
“The absolute best book out there for Autistic/AuDHD folks…who are struggling with burnout.”
— Reader
“As a mother of a child on the spectrum this book helped ease my mind and made me connect with my child on a different level.”
—Reader
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you work with?
I work with anyone who creates: full-time artists, performers, musicians, writers and designers, or people with a 9-to-5 job who want to honor their artistic identity.
Can therapy help with creative blocks?
Yes. Together we can work toward moving past blocks rooted in fear, perfectionism or old stories, as well as separating self-worth from productivity and outside validation.
Can therapy help with performance anxiety?
Yes. We can explore ways to manage fear of judgment or failure while keeping the sensitivity that makes your work meaningful.
Why see a therapist who understands artists?
As a psychotherapist and artist, I see the realities that are part of the landscape we live and work within. Often, our creative and personal identities can be so intertwined, as being an artist is a fundamental part of who we are. We might find ourselves navigating our identities along with practical considerations like public reception of our work, or the stressors of income unpredictability, along side the creative aspects of our work.
Ready to Rekindle Your Creative Spirit?
Your creative gifts deserve support. Whether you’re facing creative blocks, performance anxiety, or the pull of life’s demands, therapy for artists in NYC can help you thrive.