Photo by Ali Lozoff, Duluth, Minnesota

Get Help Directory

We all need help sometimes.

Dissonance aims to curate a directory of clinicians and organizations that are comfortable working with creative individuals and who support our mission. Recommendations listed here are not referrals for treatment or an endorsement of the quality of services offered. Individuals are responsible for contacting the resources in this directory for help and for payment of all costs incurred. Dissonance assumes no responsibility for the availability of the services included in the directory. 

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mental health

The therapists and organizations listed below have a strong interest and expertise in working with creative individuals. Contact them to arrange for consultation and to check for availability.

Sarah Souder Johnson at Sentier Psychotherapy, (763) 913-8261

Sarah is a co-founder of Dissonance and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with a particular interest in creative personalities. She has experience as a music teacher, school counselor, and higher education professional. Sarah provides individual and group therapy for young adults, adolescents, and families as well as consultation services for organizations around wellness, group dynamics, and education. 

Brian Zirngible,  (952) 892-8433

Brian is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, an actively working musician and performer, and a former Dissonance board member. His passion and specialty is helping other musicians and creative artists live a more peaceful and balanced life. Clients find it helpful that he understands and is currently living with some of the challenges in the entertainment industry.

Rebecca Aadlaand, (952) 926-7500

*Currently accepting new clients & offering teletherapy. Whether it is through her presentations, her original music or her psychotherapy skills, Rebecca Aadland is committed to helping people live more joyous, meaningful lives. Rebecca is a dynamic presenter, licensed psychotherapist, experienced teacher & professional musician. She believes in loving boldly, embracing imperfection, appreciating beauty, and doing work that lifts our soul.

Laura Barbeau at the family development center, (651) 330-3434

*Laura is currently accepting new clients and provides telehealth. She is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who has an affinity for working with creatives. She knows first hand the stressors and challenges of the territory; inconsistent income, divergent thinking, feeling an outsider in the regular world, and the passionate highs and lows, the need for deep connection, and struggles with profound disconnection at times. Working with creative minds is just more fun, engaging and enriching for me. Laura has specialities in maternal mental health, adjusting to becoming parents and uses an attachment theory lens.

MADDIE CALHOON at TURNING LEAF THERAPY, (763) 404-7592

Maddie, MSW, LICSW, earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota and has a private therapy practice in Roseville, Minn. She enjoys working with clients through a variety of mental health symptoms and challenges, including career issues, life transitions, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, interpersonal relationships, and perfectionism. As someone who previously worked in the arts, comes from a family of professional musicians, and loves to sing and dance in her free time, Maddie is familiar with the unique gifts and challenges of a creative life path. She works to promote insight, healing, self-compassion, skill-building, self-esteem and confidence, and prioritizes meeting the unique needs of each individual in a safe, warm, affirming environment. Maddie is certified in Narrative Therapy, which places the client as the expert of their own life experience.

Alexis Clarksean, (612) 723-4984

*Alexis is accepting new clients with telehealth and is offering discounted rates to service industry workers, artists, and those that work in gig economies as we all navigate the changes happening with the coronavirus. Please ask her about this when you book your appointment. Alexis is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. She works with individuals, couples, and families of all kinds in her LGBTQIP-friendly and poly/kink-aware private practice in Uptown, Minneapolis. Alexis can sometimes be seen on the stage locally in various theater productions. She is a musician and married to one, a poet, an artist, and lover of all things ART.

Theresa Crawford, (612) 298-1835

*Theresa is currently accepting new clients and offers teletherapy. She loves to work with motivated and creative people (just like you) to provide support and direction through complicated and confusing life challenges. Together we will explore strategies to help you connect your brain, mind, and body to work together to break through old thoughts, patterns and beliefs, creating a powerful new you!

Maddie Davis at CARE Counseling, (763) 544-1006

Maddie is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who believes that asking for help is truly one of the hardest steps in movement towards growth. Knowing that, Maddie will walk alongside you and your family to meet your needs, set goals, and work towards a healthier life. A researcher once said that the creative genius is “occasionally crazier and yet adamantly saner than the average person" and Maddie could not agree more. It takes courage to be imperfect and love yourself all the same.

mark femling at jive counseling, (612) 682-3717

Mark is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and founder of Jive Counseling. He is currently accepting new clients and offers teletherapy. Jive counseling provides accessible, compassionate, and person-centered therapeutic services for musicians and individuals within the Minnesota music industry. Whether you want to find the motivation to finish your next project, make a lifestyle change, tune in your distress tolerance skills, create healthier relationships, or recharge your spark, we will collaborate to create goals and interventions that work for you. Therapy unique to your personal strengths and needs, at your tempo, free of judgment.

DANIEL GOLDSCHMIDT AT ETUDE LLC, daniel@etudellc.com

Daniel (he/they/theirs) is the founder of Etude LLC in Minneapolis and a master’s-level, board-certified music therapist with a particular interest in working with people exploring LGBTQIA+ identity. Daniel earned an undergraduate degree in music therapy from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in music therapy from Colorado State University. Daniel provides individual and group therapy for adolescents, adults and older adults. They also provide education and consultation regarding dismantling white supremacy in healthcare.

Irene Greene, (612) 874-6442

Irene is currently accepting clients through telehealth. Irene helps humans identify their concerns or blocks; define what they would like to change; establish boundaries based in integrity, respect, and self-care; increase personal understanding and self-empowerment; learn new skills and strategies; and then, make the changes necessary to be more of the person who they want to be. Irene has 30+ years experience as a cutting-edge, skilled, socially conscious counselor, consultant, relationship coach, and educator.

Joan Hause at Indigo Counseling Center, (612) 293-5124

Joan is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and owner of Indigo Counseling Center in St. Paul. She is currently accepting new clients and offers teletherapy sessions. Joan loves to work with "creatives" of all types--writers, artists, musicians, actors, website designers, programmers, graphic designers, gardeners, bakers, thinkers, spiritual questers, readers, poets, entrepreneurs, teachers, therapists, students, bloggers and learners. She helps people to unlock creativity, overcome procrastination and find a work/creative life balance. Joan also works with the LGBTQIA+ community and has a specialty in working with transgender adults. Indigo Counseling is a safe place for gender and sexuality issues.

#LIVIN FOUNDATION

The #Livin Foundation is a Minnesota nonprofit engaged in a variety of public education and advocacy activities designed to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention. While the #Livin Foundation does not provide direct care, its website has useful information and resources, particularly related to suicide prevention, grief and the needs of military veterans.

Kim Lovejoy - Holistic Healing, (612) 405-7405

Kim is currently accepting new clients and offers telehealth. Her approach to therapy is as unique as each client. She draws from many theories and modalities, including holistic wellness, somatic experiencing, sandtray therapy, yoga, and a creative strengths based approach. Her focus is to provide therapy creatively and interactively, with humor, compassion, and authenticity.

Lindsey Mackereth at Method Counseling, 651-505-3456

Lindsey is currently available for two new clients via telehealth. Lindsey is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) + a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), providing both in-office + virtual therapy and coaching that utilize research-supported methods to help individuals make important changes to improve their creative, personal and professional lives. As a creative-minded therapist, Lindsey strives to provide a safe, comfortable environment that fosters authentic & vibrant conversation. Her clinical approach is creative, direct, forward-thinking, holistic + non-judgmental (with a dash of humor) and her areas of clinical expertise include: issues that arise in creative individuals (creative anxiety, creative block, balancing creative work with career and/or parenting, low motivation, etc.), career/life stress, addiction, anxiety, depression and eating issues.  Lindsey believes that it is never too early or too late to make positive life changes, and would love to join, support and encourage you on your journey toward meaningful change.

Heather Matson at Art of Counseling, (651) 318-0109

Meggan McQuillan at Both/And Resources, (651) 366-9760

Meggan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with training in EMDR and 3Principles. She also has a hypo-allergenic clinical therapy dog named Henry! Meggan has a background in the performing arts as a founding member of Ballet of the Dolls and the Children’s Theatre Company. She believes artists generally have very vivid imaginations which is an incredible blessing yet can also be a curse, and she helps people become aware of how their thinking impacts their functioning.

Auden O’Connell, Northeast Art Therapy, (612) 509-9987

Auden O'Connell, MPS, LPCC, ATR-BC is a board-certified art therapist and artist who works with children, adolescents, and adults in NE Minneapolis. Auden is particularly passionate about working with creative individuals and artists, and utilizes both creative art and traditional talk-therapy methods with her clients. 

John Ostby, (651) 491-7054

John is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist who works with adults, children, and families at the Jonas Center. Before working in the mental health field, John was a professional musician. He was a founding member of Spymob and the touring keyboardist for Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D. As a lifelong performer and songwriter, John has a unique interest and understanding of how mental health issues affect working artists.

Jessica Parker, (612) 245-2969

Jessica is a former actress and comedian and enjoys visual arts, painting, drawing, and sculpting for emotional expression. As a pre-licensed mental health professional, she believes she is a good fit for creative individuals because she is like-minded and understands the struggles and joys of being an artist.

Kendra Snyder, (651) 419-1086

Currently accepting new clients and offering teletherapy. Kendra is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is deeply passionate about working with musicians, artists and creativity in all forms. As a musician and artist herself, she deeply understands the creative heart of the human experience. Kendra offers an open and inviting space for others to engage in deep introspective reflection that helps foster creativity, authenticity and expansion. Her areas of speciality include: attachment, anxiety and depression, creative expression, grief and loss, interpersonal stress, identity development, harm from/within religion, and trauma (offering EMDR therapy).

Stacey Stillmunkes, (651) 583-5907

Stacey is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who approaches therapy grounded in the belief that mental health is innate and that all human beings have built-in resiliency and creativity. She is passionate about helping people connect to their inner health and express themselves through whatever channel they are naturally drawn to such as talking, writing, music, art, and dance. Stacey works with clients towards finding flow, expression of self, inspiration, and having fun!

Larry Suess, (612) 823-5101

Larry is currently accepting new clients & provides telehealth. Larry is a Licensed Psychologist as well as a Family Therapist and Music Therapist, who enjoys working with people in the arts and their unique challenges. He believes that crises offer opportunity for growth, and that discovering the strengths you need can help you to grow through crisis and achieve personal and relationship goals. As a songwriter and experienced member of many bands, he knows the extra challenges of life in the arts. Virtual sessions online and on phone/FaceTime are also part of his practice, as is is clinical supervision of therapists for licensure.

Traci Valentine, (651) 373-3886

Traci is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is interested in working with creatives and artists in her private practice, Valentine Counseling. She is an internationally published poet and has lived in the Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative in Lowertown, St. Paul for 19 years. Traci uses writing in a variety of formats to help her clients locate solutions to the issues they present in therapy. She is supportive of creative minds and their unique ways of thinking.

Jenna Vissell at Stable Living, (612) 567-2129

Jenna is currently accepting new clients, offering equine-assisted and nature-based therapy on a 28 acre farm 35 minutes from the Twin Cities. She says working with horses is an extremely powerful modality based on neurological principles to heal chronic stress and trauma, and that the relationship built between horse and client serves as the foundation for healing. Jenna has found her own source of healing from nature and enjoys sharing this modality with individuals, couples and families of all structures and backgrounds. Jenna is a pre-licensed marriage and family practitioner, also focusing on the connection of personal growth to collective resilience and social change. With a background as a jeweler, live sound engineer, and early childhood educator, Jenna identifies with other creatives and deeply appreciates working with artists, teachers, healers, outside-the-box thinkers, and anyone looking to explore deeper reflection and change.

Wendy Whelihan, (612) 695-9266

Wendy is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who has been practicing for nearly two decades in the Twin Cities. She works with couples, families, and individuals and specializes in sexuality and trauma (including EMDR). In recent years, she has become particularly invested in working with folks from the LGBT community and people who are grappling with non-normative lifestyle and relationship choices. Being the partner of an artist lends her a unique vantage point when working with creative personalities and their families.

Jennie Yngsdahl at Center for Counseling and Wellness, (651) 294-2307

Jennie is a Licensed Psychologist who uses art, writing, music, imagery, metaphor, existential spirituality and other expressive interventions in her approach to therapy. She takes most insurance and has a sliding fee for those who need it. Jennie is collaborative, intuitive and compassionate in her approach, and strongly believes art will save the world or at least the artists! She is sensitive to the LGBTQIA+ community, trauma-informed and mind/body-focused, with 25 years of therapy experience.

Minnesota Art Therapy Association

The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) defines art therapy as a human service profession which utilizes art media, images, the creative art process, and patient client responses to the created art productions as reflections of an individual’s development, abilities, personality, interests, concerns, and conflicts. Art therapy is an effective treatment for individuals with developmental, medical, educational, social, or psychological impairments.

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substance use help & recovery support

Whether you need help finding treatment, support meetings or recovery coaching, the organizations listed here can help.

HAZELDEN BETTY FORD FOUNDATION, 1-800-I-DO-CARE

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It is the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of addiction treatment and co-occurring mental health care, with sites across Minnesota, where it was founded, and nationally. Hazelden Betty Ford’s RecoveryGo telehealth solutions include virtual intensive outpatient addiction treatment and mental health services.

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TREATMENT SERVICES LOCATOR, 1-800-662-4357

A confidential and anonymous source of information for people seeking treatment facilities in the U.S. for substance use and/or mental health problems.

kate lehmann, (612) 306-4778

Kate Lehmann, MA, LADC , SAP, is currently accepting patients and offers telehealth. A substance use counselor in private practice in Minneapolis, she provides assessment services and individual and family addiction counseling. She is committed to working with each client to determine what will be most effective and useful in promoting and sustaining recovery. Lehmann Consulting, Inc. is a private, independent practice and is self-pay only. Kate enjoys working with creative people and her experience includes a 30-year career in film and television production. She enjoys doing board service for community organizations and loves travel, theatre, music and her canine companions.

FIND MUTUAL AID SUPPORT MEETINGS

Numerous research studies have shown that mutual aid groups play a significant role in the process of recovery. Here you can learn about the many varieties of online and in-person mutual aid groups that are helping people find and sustain their recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, and find a meeting to attend near you.

Another resource for finding meetings is Compass, a fully-interactive online-meeting finder designed specifically for traveling artists. Built by our friends at Passenger Recovery, the Compass database includes thousands of AA, NA, NAMI (for mental health concerns) and Refuge Recovery (Buddhist-inspired) meetings, and is growing every day. Click here, and Compass will open to show meetings for the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Simply enter a new location to find options in another city.

PASSENGER RECOVERY

In addition to its convenient meeting-finder tool, Compass (mentioned above), Passenger Recovery provides a sober-green-room experience and other recovery support services for artists traveling through Detroit.

MINNESOTA RECOVERY CONNECTION

MRC is a recovery community organization that serves the seven-county Twin Cities metro area and also supports recovery communities in St. Cloud and Duluth. It provides peer-based recovery support services and is a hub for recovery-focused community education and outreach, and policy advocacy. MRC provides people in recovery with opportunities to connect, grow, discover their voice, and lead.

TWIN CITIES RECOVERY PROJECT

This recovery community organization offers assistance and support to those suffering from substance use disorder in their transition toward lifestyles of health and productivity by offering a drug-free environment as well as resources to develop the whole person.

To The Bridge Foundation

THEDAILYPLEDGE.ORG

The Daily Pledge is an online recovery community where people from all over the world support each other in establishing and sustaining lives and families free from addiction. Access chats, online support meetings and discussion boards that address your specific areas of interest any day, any time, from anywhere. You control your anonymity settings.

RECOVERY 2.0 PODCAST

Join in as Tommy Rosen interviews leaders in the field of addiction and recovery, spiritual teachers, medical doctors, nutritionists, yoga and meditation teachers, and wisdom keepers—all shedding light on living beyond addiction. See also his online recovery community R20.com.

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artist resources

Artspace

Artspace's mission is to create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations.

Minnesota Music Coalition

Minnesota Music Coalition is a network of artists, industry professionals and music supporters who care about creating and sustaining a vibrant popular music community. MMC welcomes all Minnesota musicians, regardless of race, gender or cultural identity, encouraging self-expression and open dialogue.

MusiCares, 1-877-303-6962

MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. With locations in Santa Monica, Nashville, and New York, MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality.

Springboard for the Arts

Springboard for the Arts is an economic and community development organization for artists and by artists. Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to cultivate vibrant communities by connecting artists with the skills, information, and services they need to make a living and a life. We love their Art Services Directory.

Think Piece Publishing

Think Piece Publishing exists to illuminate mental health experiences through artistic expression. They put out Adam Levy's critically acclaimed record 'Naubinway' and Julie Barton's best-selling memoir 'Dog Medicine.' They believe that life gets better when you talk about the things that you're afraid to talk about.

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resources for teens