The biggest barrier to getting started with Creative Reflective Journaling is the fear of the bank page. You've just bought yourself a journal or sketchbook and it is full of the most beautiful pristine white pages. The thought of making a mark, getting it wrong and making a mess can stop you in your tracks.
As previously written about in my blog What is creative reflective practice?, I explained that creative reflective journaling brings together formal reflective practice and art journaling. It is well known that the primary purpose of art journaling is often self-care and it is something that creative reflective journaling offers you too
The answer is almost anything! Your journal is your space to explore, externalise and express whatever is going on for you. It is a safe, confidential and private space with no requirement to share with anyone unless you choose to do so.
As coaches we are encouraged, if not expected, to have a formal reflective practice as part of our ongoing development and growth, ensuring we continue to provide a professional and positive service for our clients.
Is my reflective practice good enough? is a question I have asked myself many times over my years of coaching and supervision and my answer was always no, I always felt it was inadequate. I have never been able to settle to writing out my reflective practice.
In this blog I want to explain what I mean when I talk about art-based coaching and therefore why I feel it has such an important place in coaching.
Here are four creative exercises using your hands and feet as your painting instruments that literally enable you to get in touch with your creativity. These exercises free you from the constraints of your working and daily lives.
One of the most frequent questions I get asked about using art in group coaching, is how to introduce it.
Creative emotional expressions Creating art enables us to connect to and express our emotions and then manage them and, if we need to, to let them go.
Connecting to your creative energy is one way of practising self-care and renew your energy as a helping professional. Making art can give you a space to set aside your concerns and worries, immerse yourself in an activity that is both relaxing and challenging, and rediscover the joy (and fun) of making something by hand.
