How does therapy support Asian American mental health?

Therapy provides a safe space to heal intergenerational trauma, manage career stress, overcome creative blocks, and navigate cultural identity challenges. Services include Brainspotting and EMDR therapy available in Los Angeles, Pasadena, the Bay Area, and across California.

What mental health issues commonly affect Asian American communities?

Common concerns include anxiety, depression, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, family pressures, relationship challenges, and creative blocks. Asian American therapists at Oak and Stone Therapy provide culturally sensitive support using Brainspotting, EMDR, and other healing modalities.

Is culturally sensitive therapy important for BIPOC and children of immigrants?

Yes, culturally sensitive therapy acknowledges racial identity, cultural values, and intergenerational expectations. Our services include Brainspotting and EMDR therapy adapted to the needs of BIPOC and first-generation clients across California.

Who can benefit from Oak and Stone Therapy's blog?

Our blog supports Korean Americans, Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, and other East and South Asian communities, as well as BIPOC individuals and first-generation Americans seeking emotional growth, resilience, and culturally sensitive therapy options like Brainspotting and EMDR.

The Hidden Struggles of Creatives in the Entertainment Industry

For Creatives

Apr 30

Written By Hatty J. Lee

Image of an empty chair with a light on it, symbolic of the pressure that creatives in entertainment face in Los Angeles

If you're an artist, actor, writer, musician, or any kind of creative working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, you know the lifestyle is rarely as glamorous as it appears. Yes, there can be moments of excitement and recognition—but there's also another side to this life, one that doesn't get talked about enough. One that can be quietly exhausting, emotionally disorienting, and incredibly isolating.

At Oak and Stone Therapy, many of the creatives we work with—especially Asian and Asian American artists and creatives of color—share overlapping experiences: burnout, anxiety, self-doubt, and emotional fatigue that doesn’t always match the external image they project. If any of the below sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Creative Pressure and Self-Doubt: There’s often a relentless inner voice questioning your talent or worth. The fear of being exposed as a fraud, no matter how experienced you are, can show up at the worst times. Confidence becomes hard to hold onto when you're constantly being judged through a subjective lens.

If you are like many other Asian and Asian American creatives, internal pressures related to achievement, family pride, and emotional control can intensify these experiences. The added layer of being underrepresented or typecast can reinforce feelings of invisibility, otherness, or not being "enough" in the eyes of the industry.

The Inspiration/Burnout Cycle : That push-pull dynamic between feeling inspired and totally depleted is real. You may struggle to recover after rejection or a dry spell. Avoidance, overwork, or emotional flatlining becomes the norm.

Relationship Strain and Loneliness : Your work may require you to sacrifice time, presence, and energy in your relationships. There may be fear around being truly seen—or judged—by people outside the industry, which makes genuine connection feel difficult. For Asian American and BIPOC creatives, there can also be a deep tension between chosen paths and family or cultural expectations, especially in communities where careers in the arts may not be seen as viable or respectable.

Navigating Representation and Microaggressions: Being a creative of color often means carrying the pressure of representation—feeling like you have to "get it right" for an entire community. It also can mean facing microaggressions, tokenism, and being overlooked or undervalued in spaces that weren’t built with your identity in mind. These experiences can quietly wear away at your confidence and your creative freedom.

Identity Tied to Work: When your career is also your passion, the line between who you are and what you do can blur quickly. When gigs end or roles shift, it can feel like a piece of your identity disappears with them.

High Pressure, Low Boundaries: The constant hustle, irregular hours, and scarcity mindset can make it hard to say no. Overextension feels inevitable when you're afraid of missing your "big break."

Career Uncertainty and Creative Fatigue: Even success doesn't shield you from doubt. You might question whether this path still fulfills you, but feel trapped by how much you’ve already invested. Creative fatigue can set in, and it gets harder to know what you even want anymore.

How Therapy Can Support Creatives

Therapy offers a space where you don’t have to perform. A space to untangle the emotional knots that come with a creative life and reconnect to who you are beyond the industry. At Oak and Stone Therapy, we work with creatives—especially those navigating the intersection of culture, identity, and professional pressure—on:

Reclaiming your narrative: Finding your voice and values beneath the noise of auditions, rejections, or public expectations.
Healing creative wounds: Addressing perfectionism, imposter syndrome, internalized shame, and fear that keep you stuck or shut down.
Setting boundaries: Learning how to say no, conserve your energy, and make choices that align with your well-being.
Regulating anxiety: Managing the mental and physical toll of pressure, competition, and financial unpredictability.
Repairing relationships: Working through patterns of self-sabotage or disconnection and nurturing authentic connection.
Rediscovering fulfillment: Exploring what creativity looks like on your terms, not just through roles, reviews, or results.

You Are Not Alone

The entertainment industry asks a lot from you. And often, it takes a toll that others don't see. Therapy is here to make space for your humanity in a system that often overlooks it.

You're allowed to want more than survival. You're allowed to seek support. And you're allowed to create a life that feels like it belongs to you—on stage or off.

If you're ready to start that process, reach out to schedule a consultation today.

About the Author

Hatty J. Lee, LMFT #53772 (she/her) is a Korean American marriage and family therapist, Brainspotting practitioner, and founder of Oak and Stone Therapy. With over 15 years of experience in community mental health, schools, and private practice, she provides therapy in person in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and virtually throughout California and Seoul, South Korea. Many of her clients identify as Asian American creatives, including actors, writers, celebrities, and producers in the entertainment industry. She shares mental health insights on her Instagram and is the co-author of The Indwell Guide, a visual storytelling and mental health guide that offers practical tools to support healing and self-discovery.

Asian American TherapyAsian CreativesAsian Therapist

Hatty J. Lee

Oak & Stone Therapy is a team of Asian American therapists who offers individual, couples, child and teens, and family therapy virtually across California and in-person in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California.

http://www.oakandstonetherapy.com