Why Highly Creative People Need a Special Therapy Approach
4-minute read time
The creative experience can be messy, many in the arts and entertainment industries are at risk for substance use, bipolar, and depression disorders. Yet creativity also exists in many places outside the arts, like business and academia. And while we can't generalize the mental health experience of all creatives, there is one specific struggle that highly creative people across fields face. But before exploring that struggle, let's first look at who exactly is "highly creative."
We'll Explore:
Who is creative?
Everybody! Creativity is at the core of the human experience. Our powerful brains give us consciousness, which means we have essentially limitless capabilities. Creativity is key to how we've evolved from primates to the modern day, by using our problem-solving and imagination to propel us forward.
Even if you're not very artistic, we all use problem-solving creativity daily. Say, for example, you have a late start getting ready for a romantic date and realize you're out of toothpaste. You brain will immediately begin seeking a creative solution:
Do I have time to buy more on the way? Will mouthwash be enough? Maybe my neighbor could lend me some toothpaste?
Not all creativity is equal
There are different levels of creative identity. Highly creative people have a big stake in their creative work. In this model of creative identity, we call them "Pro Cs."
Levels of Creative Identity
Mini C - creativity that is intrinsically new and meaningful to the person
Little C - creativity that has extrinsic value that is recognized by others
Pro C - training, practice, and effort towards growing your creativity
Big C - creativity that makes widespread impact, either across space or over time
So, you come up with a toothpaste solution that leaves your teeth nice and white for your date, and you weren't even late! If your solution felt new and meaningful to you, that would be a Mini C experience.
But let's say it was a really interesting toothpaste solution, and when you shared about this solution to your date, they also recognized the creative value. Then it'd become Little C.
Now let's suppose you commit to helping others in similar last-minute toothpaste situations, you're on the Pro C track. Then one day your creative idea becomes memorialized, or impacts the larger toothpaste industry, finally you reached Big C.
Professional creatives
These categories are helpful to they extent that they help us understand our creative identity. It's particularly important for Pro C creatives, because that's who experiences our specific creativity struggle. More on that in a bit.
What makes someone a Pro C is more intention and commitment than an actual result. Someone in school to get a professional music degree may not currently identify with professional musicianship, and if their goal is to become a professor, they're certainly not there yet. Yet, they're on the path. Does that make them a Pro C creative? Well, that's for them to evaluate.
This can be complicated. I know people who don't consider themself a Pro C because they're having to work a "normal" job to get by. And I've known others who have success, but still feel they're not good enough to consider themselves "the real thing."
So, do you consider yourself a Pro C? I have a test for you.
We're going to look at a challenge that all Pro Cs experience at some point. If this challenge is relatable, then you're a Pro C. But first we need to understand that Pro C's regularly engage in creative acts.
What is a creative act?
You'll notice I haven't defined creativity at this point. Instead, let's shift attention to the creative act. This is:
an act that intentionally produces something of novelty and value.
You need both novelty and value. You may make something that's valuable, but if it's an auto-replica of what you've done before, well it's just not highly creative. And as for having novelty without value... just look at social media. An abundance of novelty doesn't necessarily bring value.
Of course novelty is subjective, what is new to you may not be new to the world. And things that were once new lose their novelty in time. Same with value, one person's junk is another's treasure.
The challenge of sustaining creativity
Ok so here's our issue - the production of novelty and value is not sustainable. So here is our test:
If you experience challenges related to your need to create novelty and value, then you are a Pro C.
Does it resonate? These challenges could be financial, emotional, social, etc. But they're all due to the paradox that Pro C's are committed to something that is inherently unsustainable. This is a tension that is bound to show up.
The creative act is a mysterious, even sacred, thing. There is an ebb and flow to it. It can be like catching the wind. We can nurture the process, but we are not in full control. Simply put, we just cannot regularly produce novelty and value.
What are the mental health implications for someone who has doubled down on a path that is full of such contradiction?
Therapy for highly creative people
Our therapy approach puts this tension in the center. It understands the nuances of the creative process, and validates that we can become highly reactive when our creativity output is disrupted.
Instead of working to "fix" the issue, our goal is to help you better learn from your own creative experience. To learn the landscape of ebbs and flows: the blocks, the triggers, the supports. To redefine your expectations as checked by this golden rule that creative acts are not, nor should they be, exponential.
If this approach is an interest you can learn more here.
Get started with a therapist today