Creative Companioning
Creators at work. Artist not known.
Though most people enter a coaching relationship to jump start or complete a collection of essays, memoir or family history, there are some who rely on words for a different purpose.
They aren’t interested in publication. Instead, they are interested in self-discovery; in unpacking a story or theme in their life - perhaps an ancestral one - for meaning or a mission.
These writers have inspired me to develop a new coaching approach that guides them with what I call creative companioning.
My role is to hold, support and make space as they follow their creative curiosity and instincts. Sometimes they have a sense of what they are looking for. Sometimes not. Sometimes they simply let ideas flow and I listen. Sometimes they bring a poem, quote, journal entry, letter, photograph or collage to our session and we unpack it’s meaning together.
They enter their own creative space in a variety of ways - no two alike - but in short order a theme becomes clear. All that was needed was space, encouragement and empathic listening.
Working with these creatives has taught me that what most artists share is an appreciation and respect for process. Making becomes a tool for emotional and artistic exploration. Doing can be a creative personal journey in and of itself.
But most of us need support and encouragement, so much like the artists who gathered around Parisian café tables or the storytellers who share tales in the back rooms of bars, I sit as witness for these journeyers.
I listen for the story beneath their stories to help them interpret and connect the dots, to guide them toward accessing their own insight on their own terms.
What does this look like?
A psychotherapist borrows craft elements from fiction for a nonfiction guidebook.
A healer brings an ancestral story to life through poetry, playwriting, essay and song.
A retired coach deepens her understanding of transitional moments in her life through personal essays.
The great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors speaks for the ones who could not through image and word.
An immigrant connects her business mission to key moments from her own life and rediscovery of a core family value.
A retired chaplain explores saved objects and writings to unearth their meaning and leave a legacy.
Several of these creatives will be ready to fly on their own journeys soon. In January 2026, I will be opening coaching slots for a writers interested in approaching their projects in this unique - and very productive - way.
Find out more here.
Upcoming
“Before I Go: Writing the Ethical Will” (online at Ritualwell.) Thursday, November 13, 2025, 1-2:30 p.m. EST