Resource Lab
Therapy Options for Musicians and the Music Industry
Finding the right mental health support can take a little sorting out. Your schedule, location, budget, privacy needs, and how much you want a therapist to understand about music can all matter.
There Is More Than One Way to Find Support
Therapy can help with stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, relationship problems, performance pressure, and plenty of other things that can get harder when life and music overlap. You can look for someone who understands touring, studio work, creative work, industry pressure, irregular schedules, or whatever part of music life is relevant to you. You can also decide that you do not need your therapist to know much about music at all.
Therapy Options for Musicians
Different resources make sense for different situations. Location, insurance, cost, availability, and the kind of support you want can all affect where you start.
Musician Therapy Studio
Musician Therapy Studio provides mental health therapy for musicians, performers, crew, and creative professionals in Colorado. Sessions are available in person in Arvada and online throughout Colorado. Most insurance is accepted, and private-pay options are available.
Learn more about therapy at MTS →Backline
Backline helps music industry professionals and their families navigate mental health and wellness resources. Their team can help connect people with options based on their situation and location.
Visit Backline →You Do Not Have to Find the Perfect Therapist on the First Try
A first consultation or appointment can give you useful information. You may find that the therapist is a good fit. You may also realize that you want something different. Both are useful things to learn.
Start With What Matters Most to You
Before you start contacting therapists, it can help to narrow down the two or three things that matter most. You do not need a complete list.
Music Experience
Do you want someone who already understands touring, recording, performing, crew work, creative identity, or the business side of music?
Schedule
Does your availability change because of shows, recording, travel, production work, or other parts of your life?
Cost & Insurance
Is insurance coverage important to you? Are you looking for private-pay care? What kind of cost works for your situation?
Location
Do you want to meet in person, online, or have the flexibility to use either option?
Clinical Approach
Are there particular concerns or ways of working that matter to you, such as anxiety, burnout, trauma, relationships, or performance pressure?
How Much Music Matters
Maybe you want music to be understood as part of your life without having every therapy conversation revolve around it.
Questions Worth Asking
You do not need to interview a therapist like you are hiring a contractor. A few straightforward questions can tell you a lot about whether the fit makes sense.
Do You Work With Musicians or Music Industry Professionals?
Ask about their actual experience with musicians, touring professionals, crew, producers, or other people connected to the industry. You can decide how important that familiarity is to you.
How Do You Handle Irregular Schedules?
Ask about scheduling, cancellations, telehealth, and what happens when your availability changes because of work.
Can We Talk About Both Work and Personal Life?
Music can overlap with relationships, sleep, money, identity, stress, and everyday life. It is reasonable to ask whether the therapist is comfortable with that overlap.
How Do You Work With the Things I Am Dealing With?
If anxiety, burnout, grief, performance pressure, depression, relationship problems, or something else is bringing you in, ask how the therapist approaches it.
How Do You Protect My Privacy?
Therapists follow confidentiality requirements with specific legal exceptions. If privacy is especially important because of your public profile or professional community, ask how communication and records are handled.
What Will the First Few Sessions Look Like?
You can ask how the therapist approaches the beginning of treatment, how goals are established, and what session length and frequency usually look like.
Do You Understand Creative Work?
You can ask how they think about creative identity, rejection, comparison, deadlines, unpredictable work, and the pressure that can come with making things other people will hear or see.
How Do Fees and Insurance Work?
Ask about insurance, private-pay rates, deductibles, cancellation policies, and anything else that affects the cost of treatment.
The right fit is not necessarily the therapist who knows the most about music. It is the therapist who can understand what matters to you and help with the things you actually want to work on.
A Few Practical Things to Look For
Once you know what matters to you, these can help narrow the field.
- Location that works for your actual life
- A schedule that can accommodate your availability
- A cost and insurance arrangement you understand
- Experience with the concerns you want help with
- An approach that makes sense to you
- Clear expectations around privacy and communication
- A scope of practice that fits what you need
- Enough comfort to be honest with the person you are seeing
If You Are Not Sure What Kind of Therapist You Need
You do not have to diagnose yourself before looking for therapy. You also do not need to know exactly what you want to talk about in the first session.
It can be enough to know that something is getting harder to manage, that the way you are feeling is affecting your life, or that you want some help sorting through what has been happening. A consultation can also help you figure out whether a particular therapist is the right kind of support for what is going on.
And if you contact someone and realize they are not the right fit, that does not mean therapy is not for you. It may simply mean that you need a different person, approach, schedule, or type of support.
Looking for Therapy in Colorado?
Musician Therapy Studio provides mental health therapy for musicians, performers, crew, and creatives in Colorado, with in-person sessions in Arvada and online therapy statewide.
Book a Free Consultation