What is a Creativity Coach—and What Do They Do?

A creativity coach is trained in helping individuals unlock their creative potential. Unlike therapy or life coaching, creativity coaching focuses on fostering creative skills, progressing through blocks and barriers, and realizing the personal and professional benefits of a creative practice. Read on to learn more about what a creativity coach does — and doesn't do — and how creativity coaching can benefit you, wherever you are on your creative path.

The Differences in Coaching Disciplines

Career coaching, executive coaching, life coaching — these disciplines have gained broad recognition over the past few decades. Even if you've never worked with a coach, these titles are pretty self-explanatory: one focuses on career development, another on leadership skills and the third on personal goals (that may or may not relate to a career). But creativity coaching? it seems less ... concrete. How do you coach around something seemingly so abstract? And is creativity coaching only for established artists and performer types?  

In practical terms, the art of coaching (for the coach) involves asking clarifying questions, being an active and responsive listener, and serving as an accountability partner. It entails helping a client set or refine goals, work through blocks or challenges, provide perspective, reframe resistance and track progress over time. When it comes to creativity coaching, the field's founder, Eric Maisel, describes it this way:    

Creativity coaching is the activity of one person helping another person with every aspect of that person's creative life, including the psychological, emotional, existential, and practical problems that arise as an individual tries to create.

That's a pretty broad definition — for good reason. Creative work is usually intertwined with our lived experiences and our need to create meaning in the world (or make sense of it).

As Eric says, a creativity coach invites you to "think hard, feel deeply, dream big, and be great." As creativity coaches, we work with you to manifest your potential through creative expression — whatever form that may take for you: writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, playing an instrument, singing, dancing, acting, directing, designing ... You get the (big) picture.

A reflective sphere in the installation Entrée by physicist and sculptor David Madacsi at I-Park

Who Benefits from Creativity Coaching?

Whether you already have a creative practice or you haven’t picked up a pen, brush or instrument in years, creativity coaching can help you move forward with your work. Whatever your starting point, coaching is designed to meet you where you are and help you grow from there. And even beyond what you make in the process, there are some pretty terrific benefits to investing in your creativity.

In their recent book Your Brain on Art, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross break down recent research that shows how our neurocircuitry literally changes in response to creative activity. When you engage in a creative practice, like writing, painting, acting or making music, you increase your brain’s plasticity, advancing your ability to arrive at new and novel ideas. Plus, those who engage in creative pursuits experience higher levels of cognitive functioning and life satisfac­tion generally. That's great news for those who are new or returning to creative work — and anyone who decides to give it ample time and space.

The Methods & Tools of Creativity Coaching

Open-ended questions are a coach's most powerful tool. In creativity coaching, questions spark insight, shift perspective and help you uncover possibilities you may not see on your own. Through intentional listening and reflection, a coach works with you to set clear goals, reframe resistance and build habits that result in progress in your creative work (and thinking).

So, what’s your part in the process? It starts with curiosity. You bring your goals, your sticking points or even just the desire to feel more inspired, and we'll explore them together, addressing new concerns as they arise. Your role is to show up with honesty and a willingness to explore new possibilities. My role is to guide, support and provide accountability as you move forward with your creative work.

And it's not all talk. We'll define action steps for you to take between sessions. Depending on your practice, those steps may involve discovery prompts, exercises, integrating new habit frameworks or routines, and other practices that keep your creative spark bright. Over time, these small shifts are designed to help you turn ideas into action, finish projects that matter and feel more clear and confident in your creative voice.

Creativity Coaching vs. Therapy

While coaching and therapy may have some crossover, creativity coaching isn't designed to diagnose or treat mental health conditions, heal past trauma or address deep emotional wounds. (Though creative work itself can be enormously helpful in these areas.) By contrast, creativity coaching is forward-looking, with a focus on your goals, growth and potential. Ultimately, it's about experiencing more personal fulfillment, satisfaction and well-being through the creative process and your personal creative expression.

Ready to Explore Creativity Coaching? 

If you're interested in experiencing the benefits of creativity coaching, reach out to get started!