Creative Block: What’s Really Keeping You Stuck (And How Therapy Can Help You Move Through It)
You sit down to begin, but your mind goes blank. Let’s talk about why.
You’ve got a spark. The idea sits in your mind. Maybe even in your heart. But when it’s time to begin, you freeze. You open your laptop, sketchpad, or notebook and… nothing. Your mind goes blank. You feel stuck in that space between wanting to create and actually creating. If you’ve ever asked yourself “Why can’t I create?”, know you’re not alone.
As a New York & Massachusetts EMDR therapist, I’ve worked with women who feel the ache of creative block while looking successful on the outside. Maybe you’ve written books, led teams, launched businesses, but when your inner world asks for expression, it shuts down.
In this post, we’ll walk through what creative block really is, why it’s not laziness, and how therapies like EMDR and Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) in NY & MA can help you reconnect with your creative flow (yes, even if you’ve been stuck for months or years). If that sounds familiar, I invite you to reach out and schedule a consultation, we can explore what’s holding you back and how to gently move through it.
When You Want to Create But Can’t Make Yourself Start
You have the urge, maybe even the vision, but when it’s time to begin, your mind goes blank or the doubt floods in. Or maybe there’s not even a vision at all. Just the pressure to make something, and nothing taking shape. You sit down at the keyboard or canvas and what started as excitement turns into dread. You think: What if it’s wrong? What if I look foolish? What if I start and it’s horrible? This internal script gets loud. Sometimes, louder than any idea.
That question, “why can’t I create?”, is painful because there’s a longing underneath it. Maybe you can see what you want but can’t reach it. Or maybe you can’t see anything at all, just static. Either way, the gap between the desire and the first step becomes a wall. And the more you stare at it, the more it seems fixed. You might even wonder if you’ve lost your edge, your voice, your “creative self.” But this isn’t about laziness or lack of talent. It’s something deeper, and something you can move through.
If you’re done hustling and hiding the parts of you that hurt, this blog on Internal Family Systems is for you. Learn how to build trust inside so you can step into your whole self again.
Creative Block Isn’t Laziness, It’s a Signal
For starters: that block isn’t about being lazy or uninspired. It’s your nervous system sending you messages. It’s your brain-body system saying: “Hold on. Something isn’t safe yet.” Maybe you fear rejection. Maybe you fear being seen as “not good enough” or being exposed. Maybe you fear failure. These fears aren’t imaginary, they’re real responses your system developed to protect you.
When you sit down to create and your chest tightens or your mind spins into self‑critique, it isn’t merely insecurity. It’s your system saying: “I don’t want to risk that.” This is why fear of failure creativity shows up. You think: “If I fail, it means I was never good enough.” Or: “If they really see this, they’ll know I don’t belong.” So you stall. You don’t start. And the gap widens.
The good news? That signal is fixable. It’s not a lifetime sentence. It’s an invitation for healing.
The Hidden Beliefs That Steal Your Spark
If we go deeper, we see those nervous system signals often stem from hidden beliefs. Beliefs like: “Who am I to call myself an artist?” “It’s already been done, and better.” “If I fail, it means I was never good enough.” These aren’t random. Many come from early experiences, trauma, perfectionism, or protective strategies you adopted long ago.
Maybe:
You grew up in an environment where mistakes weren’t tolerated.
You were praised for being “perfect,” so imperfection started to feel unsafe.
You were dismissed, criticized, or ignored when you tried to express yourself.
You learned to tie your worth to your output, not your presence.
All those messages add up. Over time, they build a quiet narrative: You must perform to be seen. So you push, you strive, you achieve—but when it’s time to create freely, you freeze.
These beliefs drive the gap between vision and action. They keep you in the “should” rather than the “could.” Recognizing them is the first step (yes, the work begins inside).
Tired of feeling drained, tense, or defeated but unsure why? Learn how trauma may be living in your body and how therapy can help unlock the hidden story.
How Creative Block Lives in the Body, Not Just the Mind
Here’s a part often overlooked: creative block isn’t just mental drama. It lives in your body too. Your nervous system stores past threats and writes warnings into your muscles, your posture, your breath. Your mind says “create,” but your body says “danger.”
You might notice: your shoulders tighten when you open the blank page. Your heart beats faster when you imagine sharing your work. You procrastinate, not because you don’t care, but because your body is saying: “Better to wait till it feels safer.” This is a freeze response. It’s performance anxiety. It’s trauma‑linked. And it’s real.
When you know this, you begin to see your stuckness with compassion. You’re not broken. You’re responding. And you can heal that response.
How Brain‑Body Therapies Like EMDR and DBR Help Creatives Reconnect to Flow
Here’s where things shift. In my therapy practice offering both EMDR and DBR in NY & MA, I guide women to reconnect to their creative selves, and to rewrite the nervous system’s story.
With Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), we explore the memories and beliefs that say: “I don’t belong,” “I must be perfect,” “I’ll be rejected.” EMDR gives you a structured way to process them so your brain starts linking new, safer information with those old beliefs. (Research supports EMDR for performance blocks and creativity‑related issues.)
With DBR, we dive even deeper, into your nervous system’s sequence of responses. DBR focuses on the brainstem’s pattern of how you orient when you sense threat, and gently re‑orient you to safety and flow. This helps you feel grounded while something new emerges.
These therapies don’t “make” you creative. They remove the blocks so your creativity can move naturally again. They say: you’re allowed to be seen. You’re allowed to begin. The page isn’t the enemy, the inner barrier is.
Wondering whether to try EMDR or DBR in NY/MA? This blog breaks down both‑therapy styles, their target patterns, and how they support lasting healing.
Bringing Your Vision to Life (Without Burning Out or Freezing Up)
So what might change after you do this work? Imagine sitting down with your materials and feeling a soft ease instead of a clenched panic. Imagine starting your project with curiosity instead of pressure. Imagine creating not because you must perform, but because you want to express. Because you trust that what emerges is enough.
You might still face challenges. You’ll still feel the ushering of perfectionism or doubt. But you’ll feel different. You’ll feel safer, more steady. You’ll step into your voice without the fear of collapse underneath. You’ll build a rhythm, not a sprint. You’ll reconnect with why you create in the first place: because it matters to you.
If you’re a creative (writer, painter, entrepreneur, maker) and you’re in New York or Massachusetts and feel tangled in self‑doubt or stuck in silence, therapy can help you reclaim your creative flow. I offer virtual sessions for MA residents, and in‑person sessions in Brooklyn. You don’t have to stay stuck. Your spark is not gone. It’s just waiting for a new kind of invitation. If you're ready to take that first step, you can schedule a consultation and see if this work feels like a fit for where you are right now.
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or mental health care. The content reflects general knowledge and opinion, not personalized treatment. Reading this blog does not create a therapeutic relationship. Please consult a licensed professional for support.
