EMDR & I-CBT Therapy for Los Angeles Creatives

Therapy for creatives.

I work with artists navigating ADHD overwhelm, obsessive compulsive disorder, and the effects of childhood trauma.

Find clarity, and make sense of creative burnout, self-doubt, and anxiety.

Andy Studer Therapy

EMDR & I-CBT Therapy for Los Angeles Creatives

Andy Studer Therapy is focused on helping artists — musicians, writers, dancers, actors, designers, photographers, performers — to get past procrastination and endless rumination, to return to that sense of flow and creativity in life and in craft.

Therapy office in Culver City with a couch, plants, and abstract artwork on the wall

Reconnect with focus

Make room for what matters.

Life can pull away at us, and with seemingly no end in sight. Negative experiences can cause radical shifts in how we view ourselves and live our lives, and how we organize our day to day experiences. Neurodivergence and exhausting thinking can exacerbate all of this.

Dozens of creative projects remain sidelined, waiting to be finished.
You put yourself second in your relationships, and always ruminate over whether you said or did the right thing.
You’re daydreaming 24/7, but you’re overwhelmed by a sense of dread thinking about what needs to get done.
You have no sense of time, but your workday never seems to end.
Old relationships still shape how safe you feel in new ones.

I offer a weekly thread where you get to be heard, seen, and known. Evidence-based approaches in EMDR and I-CBT allow you to orient back to the present moment with clarity and without judgement, where you can feel most creatively alive and grounded.

Exploring your lived experience

A place for your inner world.

Masking your inner world is difficult. Showing up every day is hard enough: deadlines, work, family. Underneath it runs a whole world of thoughts and feelings that can leave you anxious or lonely.

You hide how you feel because you don’t think people would understand, or maybe the depth of your feelings just feels overwhelming.

Feeling and thinking deeply comes with the identity of being an artist, yet you still feel different, out of place, or misunderstood.

In our work together, some of the conversations we might have are around:

NeurodivergenceHow it affects your life, relationships, and sense of self.

Artistry and opennessHow you are currently aligned, or misaligned, with your creative vision.

Cultural identityThe dominant cultural narratives you navigate each day.

Family system and upbringingThe family roles that affect how you currently relate to others.

Specialties

Evidence-based approaches that create space for every aspect of your lived experience.

Artistry and Creative Block

Deepen the awe-inspiring connection to your creative life and professional work.

Depth Psychology helps artists, performers, and creative professionals in Los Angeles uncover curiosity towards their untapped Self and artistry.

Depth Psychology

Explore the symbols, patterns, and relationships beneath the surface.

Depth-oriented therapy and dreamwork help creatives develop curiosity toward the untapped Self.

Asian American Therapy

Build confidence in your identity and experience.

As a Los Angeles therapist supporting the AAPI and creative community, I provide culturally responsive therapy that honors bicultural lived experience, family values, and intersectionality within dominant culture narratives.

ADHD

With CBT, develop concrete strategies around distractions, lack of motivation, and doomscrolling.

I provide ADHD therapy in Los Angeles to help artists create real strategies around executive functioning deficits, and heal years of shame and negative experiences around it.

Complex PTSD

Childhood trauma often creates a host of challenges in neurodiverse and relational experiences.

I offer Complex PTSD therapy in California using EMDR to help you see your life beyond trauma.

OCD

See through the window of OCD and how it functions.

With I-CBT for Creatives, take attention and energy back from the exhaustion of looping anxiety and compulsions.

EMDR

Heal from trauma, performance anxiety, or depression through EMDR therapy.

This evidence-based approach helps creatives and professionals get past creative blocks and shame, and build confidence and artistry.

Who I work with

Therapy for Creatives in Los Angeles

What makes you inherently you? I offer a space to unpack your lived experience, and sharpen your narrative.

Many of us are high performers and high achievers, but artistry is often tangled with old narratives around being the golden child in childhood, or performing to be seen, loved, or appreciated. For many of us, art was not just a means of crafting a personal identity, but a private means of emotional survival.

It works until it feels like a burden, or thoughts and feelings have become too loud. You want to thrive in your creativity, but it feels like your mind or your emotions are holding you back.

High standards, creative insomnias, and perfectionism often come with the identity of being the tortured artist. But we also need the tools to adapt and meet ourselves presently, and to allow ourselves to rest.

Intimate, personal support in neurodivergence or bicultural identities can also be surprisingly lacking in personal, familial, and professional relationships. Being a creative can often feel contrary to family values and generate a lot of loneliness or feelings of isolation. I am AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ allied, and my multicultural approach honors every aspect of your lived experience.

My lived experience as a creative in LA

I know the demands of artistry firsthand.

I bring my lived experience as a violinist, recording artist, and Suzuki instructor to my understanding of the demands of artistry. I have a BFA in music composition from CalArts.

I understand the passion inherent to creating something that feels personally meaningful, that allows you to feel deeply connected and rooted.

I also understand that being a perfectionist or all over the place comes with real drawbacks. It works with the identity of being an artist, until it really doesn’t. I understand how it can feel to be scattered, obsessive, or even afraid of completing what is important.

In this process, there is a development of personal clarity that will allow for more freedom to let go and let ideas fly.

“Time Blindness” & Executive Functioning

I offer CBT in working with struggles around time, motivation, and shame around not doing enough. We’ll work with the creative goals that are important to you, and find a manageable path forward. Your artistry matters, and we will develop strategies so your time reflects that.

Ruminations & Intrusive Thoughts

Do you constantly check if you said the wrong thing, feel worried around how others might perceive you, or feel concerned you are ever doing things correctly? Do you feel your own thoughts and feelings are unimportant? Do you ruminate about creative projects constantly, never finding room for completion? In understanding your chain of thoughts, we will develop skills to zoom out and craft a new narrative outside of endless, perfectionistic thought patterns.

Emotional Overwhelm and Relational Anxiety

If past relationship experiences leave you feeling on edge around others, our process starts with developing grounding as a relational process.

Frequently asked questions

A few things you may be wondering.

Do you offer a free consultation?

Yes. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation, so we can talk about what’s bringing you in and see whether we’re a good fit. There’s no pressure to commit. It’s just a chance to ask questions and get a sense of how I work.

What are your fees?

My fee is $175 per 50-minute session. I offer a sliding scale down to $125 for artists and creatives who need it, so feel free to ask during your consultation.

Do you offer telehealth?

Yes. I see clients in person at my office in Culver City, and by secure video anywhere in California. Many of my clients mix the two, depending on their schedules.

What does it mean that you’re an associate under supervision?

I’m a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT #155068) with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, completing my hours toward licensure under the supervision of Christy Merriner, LMFT. I’m fully trained and qualified to provide therapy. Supervision means I also consult regularly with an experienced clinician, which adds another layer of care to our work. Everything stays confidential.

Do I have to be a professional artist to work with you?

No. Many of my clients are working musicians, writers, actors, and designers, but others create on the side, are returning to a creative practice, or simply experience the world with a lot of depth and intensity. If creativity matters to you, you’re in the right place.

How do I know which approach is right for me?

You don’t need to know in advance. That’s part of what we work out together. Early on, I may use a few brief questionnaires to get a clearer picture of what you’re experiencing and which approach fits best. EMDR helps with trauma and memories that still feel charged, I-CBT targets the doubt that drives OCD, and depth-oriented work explores the patterns and meaning underneath it all. Most clients end up with some combination, shaped around what they’re dealing with.

Let’s Talk

Send a message and I’ll get back to you within 1–2 business days to find a time for a free 15-minute call.