I'd really like to get input on this so please join in, even if you don't want to reveal whether you've sought therapy or not. After revisiting an intriguing book, Tales from the Couch (Jason Shinder) , I kept thinking about the various issues and points made by the authors, most of whom felt therapy had been an asset for them as writers. So I throw these questions out there for discussion: does therapy help or hinder writers - and why? Does the situation make a difference? If you are having a "creative block" would you go so far as to seek out a therapist - or just stick with your writing group and hope for the right suggestion or critique to come along?
Consider Ernest Hemingway, who stated that electroshock therapy not only destroyed his memory but " put him out of business". He eventually committed suicide. Then there is Hunter Thompson, an author whose therapeutic experience I know nothing about. What I do know is that he killed himself with a shotgun blast. The last reputed word to be in his typewriter was "counselor" (does anyone know if this is true or a rumor, that part about the last word?) He'd been feeling physical pain and had talked in the past about suicide as a "way out" if things got too bad in his life, long before he got to that point.
Plenty of writers, of course, have written about being "on the couch" or seeking out a counselor and the list of available books on that topic is long. A few examples come to mind, both fiction and nonfiction: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (Greenberg)....Darkness Visible (Styron)....One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Kesey).
Anyway, I'm interested in hearing your viewpoint about this. What tips or tricks do you use to tap those creative juices? Do you get your "therapy" from writers' groups or a particular individual or individual(s)? Do you meditate or simply take a walk to think things over and puzzle through a writing block?
I'm also interested in suggestions for further reading on this topic. Finally, to see a slightly different version of this post, you can check my blog at: bookingalong.blogspot.com.
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Comments: 20
There is no psychologist that can make you write.
A counselor may be appropriate for removing inner tensions due to bad relationships, etc but he wont make you a writer.
In your heart and mind are all the stories that you can ever write in a life time.
I'll come back to this article but kindly first read my "Walking with Poetry" written about a month ago. If you can find the time then please read this...then you'll know more about my approach.
Till then.....
Wow! Clearly, you feel strongly on this topic. I wasn't really thinking about psychologists "making" me write. Writing was NEVER a problem for me until I went through the loss of a parent. I know that plenty of people find grief to be a source of some of their greatest writing but it really shut me down, knocked me for a loop and (I'm speaking only for myself here, not urging anyone to do the same) a good therapist got me to realize WHY I was stuck. Did that make me a better writer? No, no directly, but it may have saved lots of time in being "stuck or spinning my wheels". I'm ambivalent about the whole therapy/writing connection and I appreciate your viewpoint.
I agree. I'm not sure Ernest and Hunter are good examples of people who represent the "harm" of therapy - or the lack of it.
However, don't studies show that writers tend to be more depressed, manic, prone to various types of mental illness...than the average person? If so, I wonder how they balance that with their creativity.
For me, therapy has value if there is something that's causing you not to experience life as completely or as fully as you'd like. Say you're scared to death of elevators. If you live in a rural town where the only elevator is in a two story building, therapy is overkill. But, if your business requires you live in New York, you'd better find a couch fast.
I never get stuck as a writer. If nothing comes then I just start writing anything and the speed of that shortly gets me writing about the topic at hand.
I don't always like what I'm writing, but I am writing.
I have learned that my perceptions and assumptions affect my writing and not always in a positive way. Some of the best books I read seemed to reveal changes in both the writer and the characters. In fact, some writers have said they were "surprised" by the way a character changed, as did they, when they wrote. As I review my perceptions, biases and feelings, I realize that I can benefit from thinking in different ways. Journaling helps me to know myself better, too, and to strengthen my writing.
Paidra
Me too. Several things going at one time, including my waistline, natural hair color, my memory...:)
Paidra
Paidra
I did do a piece that revolved around my stint in an alcohol rehab....I will have to see if I can find it:)
Please see a related article at http://bookingalong.blogspot.com with titles listed, etc. Scroll down to see it. If you want suggestions for books on therapy and writing, bibliotherapy (using books and literature as part of the therapeutic process), just contact me . It is subject of interest to me and I have a small list of good books on these topics. There are many novels written by therapists and counselors.