Understanding Writer's Block: A Therapist's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment

by Martin Kantor
Praeger Publishers (1995), Westport, Connecticut
195 pages, $55.00

Reviewed by Peter Zvalo

The term "writer's block" is used to describe any condition that causes a person difficulty in transcribing information and ideas into written form. This relatively common condition is the subject of Understanding Writer's Block: A Therapist's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment.

As the subtitle implies, this is not a self-help book. Nevertheless, because all writers at some time experience varying degrees of "block", the insight and advice offered by Dr. Martin Kantor, an American psychiatrist and author of five other psychiatric books, is of interest to all writers.

Dr. Kantor clarifies his terminology at the outset by stating that "writer's block" and "creative block" can be used interchangeably. He prefers, however, to use the term "creative block" because it emphasizes how block affects the process of creating, not merely the act of writing, and how block can afflict all creative people. Indeed, many of the examples cited in the book are examples of block suffered by composers of classical music, as well as by well-known authors.

Dr. Kantor justifies the need for his book based on a general tendency either to misunderstand or to completely ignore the existence of creative block. Laypeople ignore block, thinking that it only troubles the lofty and the elite. The lofty and the elite ignore block, thinking that it is inevitable or their just punishment. And the scientific establishment ignores block because of a focus on other inhibitions deemed more important, such as the fear of venturing outdoors or of eating in public. Consequently, precious little material exists on the diagnosis and treatment of creative block, and few therapists are equipped to effectively treat patients who suffer from it.

Where literature on the ailment does exist, Dr. Kantor deems it inadequate. For example, he contends that attempts to partition creative block into separate entities are flawed. He shows, for example, that the classification of creative block into separate disorders ignores the fact that they all are part of the same problem: all of the disorders share the same intent (to thwart creativity) and the same result (inability to work to capacity, or at all).

Dr. Kantor proposes that creative block be viewed not as a syndrome unto itself, but as a symptom of another disorder. This view (i.e., that creative block is the anti-creative result of an emotional disorder) puts creative block into its "proper position" in mainstream psychiatry, alongside such disorders as obsession and depression, and suggests a specific treatment approach. <

A name="para07">Dr. Kantor identifies ten disorders that can manifest themselves in creative block: schizophrenic disorder, affective disorder, anxiety/phobic disorder, conversion disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual disorder, personality disorder, substance use (addiction), and organic disorder. Depending on its origin, the creative block is characterized by different symptoms: for example, if the artist suffers from addiction, the block is characterized by substance abuse that inhibits work directly (by causing a biochemical imbalance), or indirectly (by causing interpersonal difficulty), or both.

Dr. Kantor proposes a new therapeutic approach to creative block. This approach seems to rely heavily on the assumption that one of the chief causes of creative block is the systemic mistreatment of artists by society at large. To minimize the damaging effects of society and to help prevent creative block from occurring, writers and other artists should

avoid overreacting to positivity, because negativity is just around the corner; when negativity comes (as it always does), there is a risk of overreacting to it.
avoid gratuitously exposing themselves to a public eager to overwhelm. For example, even though events such as book signings appear innocent, they can become dangerous. Fans that make passing criticisms, even in jest, can "ruin anyone's day, especially the day of a sensitive artist."
know how audiences and critics work. Dr. Kantor contends that when fans or critics compliment the artist, they are mostly talking about themselves, not the artist. For example, a compliment may really mean "I have the good taste to appreciate you", or "I got the hard-to-get ticket to the trendy event." In short, Dr. Kantor writes that "audiences who toast artists are usually not interested in paying the artist a compliment, but are instead more interested in having an excuse to pour themselves a drink."

Dr. Kantor believes that, while artists are frequently perceived as narcissistic, they are, in reality, masochistic. An artist's narcissism is often a failed attempt to defend against low self-esteem and masochistic tendencies. When creative block does set in, Dr. Kantor suggests that traditional psychotherapy — an approach that emphasizes the need to overcome inhibitions by understanding them — is inappropriate. When artists experience creative block, what they need, at least at the beginning of therapy, is a positive, supportive relationship with others around them — something that is impossible in traditional psychotherapy, where the identification of problems is invariably perceived as criticism, which feeds the artist's low self-esteem.

Dr. Kantor's new approach centres around the notion that the therapist needs to establish a positive relationship with the blocked artist before attempting to uncover the causes of the block. The therapist should be perceived as the artist's ally, not a doctor performing a trade in a cold, laboratory-like atmosphere. Dr. Kantor writes: "The therapeutic situation should be a retreat, a respite from the stress of everyday life. The therapist should provide the besieged artist with the equivalent of a quiet, seclusion room, away from his torturers, or a warm, healing bath, reducing inflammation." The therapist should personally consider the question: "What can I do to help my artist, what can I do to save my artist from the bad effects of changing tastes and hostile critics?"

According to Dr. Kantor, "the artist in the wrong environment is like the weed that would be a flower, if only it were in the right garden." To prevent and cure block, the artist should be transplanted to the right garden: she or he should limit contact with negative people, avoid reading bad reviews, "get a whole new set of best friends", or, as a last resort, move to another part of the country. Further, by understanding why audiences and critics mistreat artists (i.e., because they are jealous), the artist takes the first step in curing block.

It is sometimes difficult for a layperson to fairly assess a piece of scholarly medical literature such as Understanding Writer's Block. Even those of us who call ourselves writers may not fully appreciate the devastating effects that block can have. That's because what many writers call block may be nothing more that a temporary slowdown of our creative juices. It remains to be seen to what extent this first book that describes writer's block from a psychiatric perspective can influence the mental health community. Dr. Kantor's efforts will largely be measured by his colleagues' willingness to take creative block seriously and adopt his therapeutic approach.

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