While it often may feel like it, due to the levels of self-assessment and self-exploration we do in our craft, it is dangerous to treat this like therapy.

Actors and acting coaches are not trained therapists, and in my opinion, each of us should stay in our own lanes.

Actors often need to learn to go to dark or vulnerable places and it is imperative that we learn how to come back from these places quickly and safely once a performance is over. Therefore many actors and acting coaches do go to therapists. What we do isn’t always easy. I have been in and out of therapy my entire life. I have found it invaluable on a personal and on a professional level. I have also been in it long enough to understand I am not trained to walk anyone else through their own life with any confidence or safety. Not unlike actors and coaches, the therapist’s job is complex, difficult, and not something anyone can do effectively without extensive training.

Many actors still believe sad scenes or crying scenes are harder than others. I personally do not subscribe to that theory. It’s all hard, and all in the same way.

Whether we are mad, glad, sad, or scared, our job is simple. Serve the story and behave truthfully under the circumstances we’ve convinced ourselves are real. All of our emotions are fascinating in their own right and none more difficult to access than the other.

Some scenes do require us to go to places that may have connections to traumatic experiences or darker places and having the ability to come out of them in a safe and healthy way is crucial to your own well-being. And it is never a bad idea to spend some time in some form of licensed therapy to ensure you are always taking care of yourself. But don’t go to your art or your coach for therapy. We have different roles in your life, and this isn’t what we’re trained to do.