Still an Artist: Caring for Your Mental Health Through Physical Injury

In the performing arts, the body isn’t just part of what we do—it is the instrument. It is expression, communication, identity, and our livelihood. So when the body is injured, it is never just a physical event. It can shake the foundation of who we believe ourselves to be.

Around Thanksgiving, 2015, I experienced this firsthand when I tore my left ACL while in a class—suddenly with no warning or prior pain/injury.

My entire world stopped.

Overnight, I went from performing, training, and living inside my art, to surgery and a long stretch of painful recovery that I never could have anticipated. After surgery, I could hardly walk. I had been teaching, rehearsing, and auditioning one week, and the next, I couldn’t get myself from one room to another without assistance.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the physical injury was only half of what I would be asked to heal from.

The Psychological Toll of Injury

Because I’d never had a serious injury, the emotional fallout hit quietly and deeply. Fear crept in fast:

Will I ever dance again? What if my body never feels the same? Is my career over? Will audition rooms always terrify me now?

My self-confidence disappeared during my long recovery. I felt depressed, hopeless, isolated, and alone in something that once defined me. What had been such a central part of my identity—being a performer—suddenly felt gone forever.

The recovery process stretched into almost 18 months of physical therapy, twice a week. I was on crutches longer than I ever imagined. I couldn’t do basic things by myself. I even had to move back home for a period because physically, emotionally, and financially, I needed support. And like so many injured performers, I took an office job because I had no other option.

From the outside, it might look like resilience. But internally, it was an identity crisis. The injury took my mobility, but it also took my sense of purpose, belonging, and artistic voice. And without mental health support, I struggled alone with the spiraling thoughts that artists carry but don’t always speak aloud.

What Injury Teaches Us About the Artist Mind

Looking back, I see with clarity what I couldn’t articulate then: the emotional landscape of injury is real and deserving of attention and care. To lose access to your craft—even temporarily—is a form of grief.

I learned that my body is resilient, but also not bulletproof. Injury is not a sign of weakness or failure; it is part of the physical reality of being a performer who trains and pushes their body. Bodies get hurt. Muscles tear. Voices strain. Joints wear. And as we age in our careers, injury will likely be a reality at some point, on one level or another, for all of us. It is part of carrying a life in movement.

What matters most is not perfection, but the way we support ourselves through healing and recovery.

I also learned that neglecting my mindset was one of the biggest mistakes I made. A torn ligament is visible on an MRI—but the ruptured confidence, the fear of returning to audition rooms, the identity confusion, the shock and loneliness, and the internal pressure to “get back quickly” are invisible wounds. They require care, too.

Physical therapy rebuilt strength and function, but I wish I had been in counseling throughout that season. I needed help naming grief, processing fear, managing anxious thoughts, and staying connected to my worth as a whole human—not only as a performer.

I also wish I had known the power of community—of talking with other artists who were healing too. I assumed I had to do it alone; be strong alone; return alone. That isolation only amplified self-doubt. Injuries take enough from us—we don’t need to judge or self-punish on top of it.

If You’re a Performer Recovering From Injury

If you are navigating a physical injury right now—whether it’s a ligament tear, vocal strain, nerve inflammation, surgery, chronic pain, or a quiet internal injury most can’t see, please know this:

You are still an artist, even when you are still. Your worth is not contingent on your physical ability. And you deserve emotional support as much as physical rehabilitation.

Here are a few practices that can help support your mental health during injury:

1. Normalize Grief

   You are allowed to feel sad, angry, scared, or uncertain. Loss of mobility, routine, identity, and craft can be profoundly painful.

   
   

2. Stay Curious About Your Thoughts

   Catastrophic beliefs (“I’ll never perform again”) are common, but they are feelings, not facts. Therapy can help interrupt those spirals and reframe fear gently.

   
   

3. Build a Circle of Support

   Connect with other performers who understand the emotional experience of injury. Sharing stories reduces shame, isolation, and self-blame.

   
   

4. Care for the Nervous System

   Breathwork, grounding, journaling, and somatic practices soften urgency and pressure. Stillness can be a therapeutic space, not a punishment.

   
   

5. Seek Professional Mental Health Care

   Counseling can support identity processing, self-compassion, anxiety, grief, career fears, and the internal disruption that often accompanies injury.
   

Resources for Performers Healing From Injury

If you are navigating a physical injury that impacts your ability to perform, these organizations offer support, connection, and guidance:

• Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund)

Counseling referrals, case management, support groups, financial assistance, and career services for performing artists of all disciplines. entertainmentcommunity.org

• The Dancers’ Resource (via Entertainment Community Fund)

Specialized services for dancers managing injury, including emotional support, counseling connections, and education. entertainmentcommunity.org/services-and-programs/dancers-resource

• MusiCares (Recording Academy)

Mental health support for musicians and vocalists, including recovery programs and crisis assistance.grammy.com/musicares

Looking for a counselor who understands performers?

I am a psychotherapist-in-training with a clinical focus on performers, artists, dancers, and creatives. With over 25 years as a professional performer, I support clients navigating injury, identity shifts, perfectionism, anxiety, career stress, and the emotional strain that often accompanies life in the arts.

You can find my counseling profile on our website therapeuticexperince.org. You can also book a free 15-min consultation by emailing me at: vanessa@therapeuticexperience.org

If you have questions, are seeking support, or want to process the emotional impact of injury, reach out. I’ve been where you are—you don’t have to recover alone.