I’ve spent quite a lot of time over the last couple of years trying to work out where my creative coaching work is supposed to be heading.
And, somewhat annoyingly, I think the answer has been sitting there all along.
Creativity. People. Conversation. Making things.
However, before coaching, there was teaching.
I spent 26 years working in education, teaching Art, Design and Media, supporting young people and working with those who didn’t always fit neatly into the system.
Then came coaching.
For years, I’ve worked with adults using conversation, questioning, metaphor and a whole host of other approaches to help people understand themselves better and work out what they need.
Somewhere along the way, I think I started treating those parts of my life as separate things.
The creative Becky. The coach Becky. And the teacher Becky.
Turns out, they’re not separate at all.
And that feels like a bit of a full-circle moment.
Creativity has always been the thread
The more I’ve returned to my own art and creative practice, the more obvious it’s become that creativity isn’t an ‘extra’ I bring into my work.
It’s the way I work.
Sometimes talking is exactly what we need. Sometimes it absolutely isn’t.
At other times, a piece of paper, a pile of collage materials, paint, a sand tray or simply making marks can give us another way in.
There doesn’t have to be a beautiful finished piece. You don’t have to be ‘good at art’.
It’s about having somewhere to put the stuff that can be difficult to explain.
That’s increasingly where my coaching and creativity are meeting.
Less sitting opposite someone expecting them to find the right words. More talking while we make, noticing what comes up and giving ourselves permission to explore without needing all the answers.
And now, I’m bringing creative coaching to kids
This is perhaps the bit that feels most full circle of all.
I’m opening my work back up to children aged 7+.
Not traditional art lessons. And definitely not adult coaching squeezed into a child-sized version.
In other words, I’m bringing together decades of experience in education, years of coaching and my love of creativity to offer something a little different.
A space where children can draw, make, collage, experiment, explore ideas and talk if they want to.
Because children are asked an awful lot of questions.
What’s wrong? How do you feel? Why did you do that?
And sometimes, particularly for children with busy or neurodivergent minds, finding the words can be incredibly difficult.
But when our hands are busy, the pressure to talk can ease.
Sometimes conversations happen naturally. Sometimes they don’t need to.
The making can do some of the talking too.
I’m developing a small creative coaching pilot for neurodivergent children aged 7+ in Stockport area, bringing together art, creativity and coaching.
The programme will also offer children the opportunity to work towards a qualification recognising their creative experiences and achievements.
I’m currently welcoming expressions of interest from local families who think their child might enjoy this approach.
Maybe I wasn’t changing direction after all
For a while, I thought I needed to choose.
Art or coaching. Adults or children. Creative work or people work.
Now, however, I think that was the wrong question.
Because when I look back over my career, the same things have been there all along.
Creativity. Curiosity. Conversation. Connection.
Above all, giving people space to be themselves.
The materials and the people might change, but the thread hasn’t.
This next chapter isn’t about reinventing myself. It’s about bringing the different parts of my experience back together.
After all these years, I appear to have ended up somewhere remarkably close to where I started.
Just with a much bigger toolkit.
And actually, that feels exactly right.
And what about creative coaching for adults?
Just to be clear, I’m not stepping away from coaching adults. Far from it!
Power Pockets+ is still available for ongoing 1:1 coaching, alongside my Creative Immersion Days – dedicated time to step away from the everyday, explore, create and work things through using sand, creativity and coaching.
This isn’t about replacing one thing with another. It’s about finally allowing all the parts of my work to sit alongside each other.
So, whether you’re a parent curious about the new children’s programme, or an adult who could do with some space for yourself, I’d love to hear from you.
Turns out I wasn’t starting again. I was simply coming full circle.
Becky x