Responsibility & visibility · Individual therapy · Chicago
Therapy for creative professionals in Chicago
Creative work can be closely tied to identity. When opportunities are inconsistent or feedback is subjective, it may become difficult to separate your value as a person from the reception of your work.
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What you may be noticing
- Avoiding work you care about for fear of judgment
- Comparing recognition or progress
- Feeling unsettled between projects
Your experience may look different. These examples are starting points for a conversation.
How we can work on this
We can explore self-criticism, uncertainty, and the ways creative work fits into your broader life. Together we can identify approaches to setbacks and expectations that leave room for your own values.
I am Sam Rustum, LCPC. My work is collaborative: we will discuss your priorities, choose a starting point, and check whether our approach is useful to you.
When showing the work feels like exposing yourself
A project can hold your attention for reasons that go beyond the deadline. You may care about it deeply and keep finding reasons not to share it. We could examine what happens when you imagine someone seeing the work: whose judgment you anticipate, what a response might mean, and how you try to protect yourself.
That protection can take different forms. Perhaps you revise repeatedly, compare yourself with others, agree to changes you resent, or avoid beginning something important. In therapy, we can explore both the emotional meaning of those reactions and their effect on your daily life.
A practical next step might be setting a manageable boundary around revisions, describing a need in a collaboration, or noticing the self-criticism that follows a disappointing response. We will review what happens when you try it. We can also discuss uncertainty between projects, money-related stress, relationships, and which parts of creating remain meaningful to you. The conversation includes the person doing the work, with priorities that extend beyond recognition or output.
Questions you may be asking
Do I need to earn my living from creative work?
No. You can discuss the role creating plays in your life, whether it is your primary work, a developing career, or something personally important. We will focus on the concerns affecting you.
Can we talk about difficulty starting or sharing a project?
Yes. We can look at the moments when avoidance appears and what you fear might happen. That can help us choose a manageable action while exploring the emotional pattern around it.
Will you critique my work?
The focus is your mental health and your experience of creating, evaluation, and uncertainty. You can describe enough context to help us understand what the project means to you.
A place to begin
Let’s make room for what you need.
A free 15-minute consultation gives us a chance to talk about what is difficult, answer your questions, and consider whether working together fits what you need.