Sondheim Foundation Launches Mental Health Clinic and Supports Arts Organizations

New York City – The Stephen Sondheim Foundation has announced the creation of the Horowitz-Sondheim Clinic at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (NYPSI), honoring Stephen Sondheim’s psychoanalyst, Dr. Milton Horowitz. The foundation will provide ongoing financial support to the clinic, offering affordable mental health services to playwrights, composers, and lyricists. Alongside this initiative, the Foundation has also awarded inaugural grants to several key cultural institutions.

Supporting Mental Health for Theatre Artists

The Horowitz-Sondheim Clinic aims to address the mental health challenges faced by those in the theatre industry. As Stephen Sondheim himself expressed, recognizing one isn’t alone in their struggles is a powerful experience. The clinic will offer psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and psychological testing, with services provided by licensed mental health practitioners, doctoral students, and trainees under the supervision of experienced psychoanalysts [NYPSI].

Inaugural Grant Recipients

The Stephen Sondheim Foundation’s inaugural grants have been awarded to:

• Playwrights’ Center (Minneapolis): Funds will expand their Core Writer Fellowships, providing sustained support for playwrights through development opportunities and resources.
• Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago): The grant will re-launch their SCOUT new play development program, which supports emerging American playwrights through workshops and readings.
• Millay Arts (New York): Support will bolster both the Core Residency program and a new “Artist in Residency” program, offering multidisciplinary artists dedicated time and space for creative work.
• Rhinebeck Writers Retreat (New York): The grant will support their summer Writing Residency program, providing financial assistance and uninterrupted collaboration time for musical theatre writing teams.

Sondheim’s Legacy of Support

These initiatives reflect the Foundation’s commitment to continuing Sondheim’s legacy of supporting and mentoring emerging artists, mirroring the guidance he received from Oscar Hammerstein II. The Foundation is funded by royalty income from Sondheim’s works [BroadwayWorld].

“Stephen Sondheim’s bequest is notable not only for the direct support it provides—allowing NYPSI to offer affordable treatment to theatre artists—but also because it sends a message destigmatizing the mental health challenges that many people face,” said Dr. Tehela Nimroody, clinical director of the Treatment Center at NYPSI and director of the Horowitz-Sondheim Clinic [American Theatre].

Prior to his death in November 2021 [Wikipedia], Sondheim also directed the board to produce a one-time gift to the Entertainment Community Fund, which was granted last year.