Trauma and the Creative Life

If your art is born from pain, you are not alone.

If you experience pain from the art you create, you’re also not alone.

This page was inspired by a conversation with Houston-based artist Sarah Sudhoff, whose powerful project 77 Minutes in Their Shoes responded to the tragedy of the Uvalde school shooting. Sarah shared how critical the work felt and how deeply it affected her. In the aftermath of its first exhibition, Sarah found herself wrestling with secondary trauma, overwhelmed by the emotional weight of what she had engaged with, witnessed, and honored through her art. She told me there were no resources that spoke to what she was going through as an artist. I realized then how many other artists, journalists, photographers, and creatives might be holding pain like this, quietly, without support. This page is for them.

As artists, writers, performers, and makers, we often find ourselves carrying more than just ideas. Sometimes what we carry is grief. Rage. Displacement. Trauma. As well as a deep yearning to make sense of it. Whether your creative work emerges from your own lived experiences or from witnessing the pain of others, this bit of my webpage is here to honor both your courage and normalize your feelings.

Here’s the thing, the impact of what you carry can linger long after you’ve experienced it. So, I want to share, as a therapist and fellow creative, some resources that can help you.

“Trauma is not the story of something that happened back then. It’s the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside people.” - Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.

What Is Trauma? (And Why It Matters for Artists)
Trauma is anything that is overwhelming—emotionally, physically, or psychologically—and leaves you feeling fragmented.

Your nervous system can’t distinguish between "real" or "imagined" danger. Thankfully, the brain is wired to pick up on any “real” or even “perceived” threat so that your nervous system can protect you via “fight or flight.” So when you’re making work about war, injustice, racism, or loss—even if it’s not your own—your body still carries it.

Trauma is stored both somatically and neurologically, affecting how people feel, think, and relate to others. Trauma overwhelms the nervous system’s ability to cope, often resulting in emotional dysregulation, physical symptoms, and dissociation.

Dissociation becomes a survival strategy—protecting the psyche from being overwhelmed. Dissociation is natural. We all do it. It can range from something mild, like day-dreaming to something more severe and disruptive, like depersonalization (feeling detached from your body) or amnesia. Dissociation is self-protective and often lifesaving in traumatic circumstances. It becomes a concern when it persists in ways that interfere with daily functioning or relationships long after the trauma has passed.

“When survivors create, they reclaim agency over their story. Art doesn’t demand language—it gives form to what was once unspeakable.” - Unknown

The Artist’s Burden and Gift
Artists are feelers. Witnesses. Translators. Healers.

We may create from the edges of what society wants to avoid. But that gift can also become a burden. We may struggle with burnout, perfectionism, emotional dysregulation, or the feeling that we're "too much." The same sensitivity that makes you a perceptive, powerful creator also makes you more vulnerable to trauma responses. This is compounded if you already have a history of trauma.

Types of Trauma Artists May Encounter

  • Personal Trauma: abuse, neglect, loss, medical trauma, identity-based harm, crime victimization, combat.

  • Racial & Historical Trauma: racism, legacies of oppression, intergenerational grief.

  • Societal Trauma: news cycles, mass violence, environmental collapse.

  • Secondary/Vicarious Trauma: making work about others’ pain—especially in journalism, documentary, activism, social justice, or therapeutic fields.

How Trauma Shows Up in Creative Life

  • Creative blocks or procrastination

  • Burnout cycles

  • Avoidance of themes or obsession with them

  • Shame, numbness, or anxiety

  • Perfectionism or emotional flooding

These are not signs of failure. They are signs your system is trying to protect you.

“The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.” — Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery

Healing Is Not Linear (But It Is Possible!)
Creativity can be a powerful force in healing. Writing, painting, singing, storytelling—these acts help us metabolize experience. Not by "moving on," but by integrating what was once too much to hold.

Integration means helping fragmented, overwhelming memories shift from the limbic system (the brain's emotional center) to long-term memory where they can be recalled without re-experiencing the original distress. This can happen through practices like expressive writing, body-based therapies, EMDR, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, and trauma-informed creative work.

Trauma-Informed Creative Practices

  • Create boundaries around how and when you make

  • Ground your body before and after working with difficult material

  • Let joy, play, and rest be part of your process

  • Practice titration: small doses of the hard stuff, mixed with ease

Grounding your body helps you come back to the present moment and reduce overwhelm. This can include practices like pressing your feet into the floor, naming objects in the room, running cool water over your hands, using weighted blankets or grounding stones, taking slow breaths while focusing on your exhale, or engaging your senses through smell, texture, or sound.

Be gentle with yourself.

When You're Creating About Someone Else's Pain
Empathy is beautiful—but it can also lead to burnout. If your work centers on telling others' stories (especially about injustice, violence, or grief), it’s important to:

  • Approach each narrative with sensitivty and respect for those who lived it

  • Avoid re-traumatizing your audience or yourself (use consent, care, and content warnings)

  • Recognize when you need distance

  • Build in rituals of care and recovery

You can bear witness and tell important stories without bearing it all!

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.) for Artists
Of the various evidence-based trauma protocols I’m trained in, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.) is often the one I see deliver results most quickly. A.R.T. uses voluntary image replacement + bilateral eye movements to help the brain resolve trauma at its source—often without needing to retell the entire story. “At its source” means that A.R.T. targets the limbic system, particularly the amygdala, which is the part of the brain responsible for processing fear, emotional memories, and threat detection. Issues can be resolved in as few as 1 session.

For artists overwhelmed by emotional imagery, stuck in trauma loops (the body and mind continuously re-experience or respond to trauma, even long after the original event has passed), or burdened by the intensity of their own or others' stories, A.R.T. can offer profound relief and clarity. The shifts I’ve witnessed through A.R.T. can feel nothing short of miraculous. I’ve been honored to see profound relief and clarity unfold time and time again. A.R.T. is recognized as an evidence-based intervention by U.S. federal standards and has been used in military, VA, and civilian settings.

Find an ART-certified therapist:
acceleratedresolutiontherapy.com/therapist-directory

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy for trauma that uses guided eye movements to help the brain reprocess distressing memories. It's been extensively researched and is widely recommended for PTSD and other trauma-related issues. I use it with some of my clients. While I’ve witnessed and personally experienced the effectiveness of EMDR, it can take multiple sessions and sometimes feel confusing or emotionally intense for some clients.

For artists and creatives looking for a more accessible option, the EMDR Flash Technique is a newer, gentler approach that’s designed to reduce the emotional charge of traumatic or disturbing memories without directly engaging with the painful details. Flash is often used as a precursor to EMDR therapy or can be a stand alone intervention. Watch this YouTube video to experience a bit of it for yourself. (Disclaimer: The Flash Technique video linked here is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional therapy or medical advice. Please use your own discretion. If you become distressed or feel overwhelmed, stop the exercise and seek support from a qualified mental health professional.)

Find an EMDR-certified therapist:
https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/

Recommended Reading: Trauma and Creativity
If you're looking for accessible books that explores creativity, trauma, and healing, here are a few favorites (while not every title touches on all three themes, each one offers essential insight and inspiration):

  • The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

  • Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo

  • Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman

  • Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

  • The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

  • What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

  • My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

  • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

  • The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

  • The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

  • Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross

  • Unbroken: The Trauma Response Is Never Wrong by MaryCatherine McDonald

  • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

  • You Are the One You’ve been Waiting For: Applying Internal Family Systems to Intimate Relationships by Richard Schwartz

  • Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

  • Creative Therapies for Complex Trauma by Anthea Hendry & Joy Hasler (eds.)

  • Expressive and Creative Arts Methods for Trauma Survivors by Lois J. Carey

  • Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process by Cathy A. Malchiodi

  • Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery by Courtney Armstrong

Work With Me
I work with artists, creatives, and caregivers navigating burnout, emotional overload, or complex stories. If you're looking for trauma-informed support for your creative practice, I offer:

  • 1:1 creative consultations

  • Psychotherapy + Coaching

  • Guest speaking and workshops

You can read more about my therapeutic work by clicking here.