It’s not meant to be a strife / It’s not meant to be a struggle uphill. – Björk, ‘Undo’ (2001)
Creativity and living a creative life can feel vital and freeing, while also bringing us into contact with a host of personal challenges. These can include fear, self-doubt, procrastination, fatigue, and blocks of various shapes and sizes. Whether you’re working professionally or pursuing a passion project, for many people engaging with and staying motivated during the process of creating can indeed feel like a ‘struggle uphill’ at times.
I offer people with a creative vision a supportive 1-1 space where their process can be safely witnessed and advocated for. Curiosity and understanding sit alongside active encouragement and accountability, anchored by a respect for your creation and your reasons for wanting to create it. Some people call this kind of work ‘creativity coaching,’ others ‘creative mentoring’ – I personally like ‘creative process support,’ as I feel it captures the essence of what I offer the most accurately.
This work combines my professional trainings in counselling, creativity coaching, and therapeutic writing with my personal values around authenticity and self-expression. The focus is simple – helping you to create. In practice, this might involve…
- Encouraging you to start/finish/stay motivated with a particular project, piece, collection, or entrepreneurial idea, exploring any blocks or resistances as they arise
- Clarifying your creative goals and supporting you in bringing a plan/product out from your imagination and into the external world
- Cultivating helpful practices and routines, and devising realistic strategies for creative work that align with your life and values
- Making decisions and choices around a change of some kind (e.g. a move into self-employment, a possible collaboration, a shift in creative direction)
- Reconnecting you with your creativity and rekindling the desire to create, if this has faded or been crowded out by other things
I won’t act as an editor, critic, or authority on the ‘quality’ of your creative life or what you create. What I will be is a steady, supportive presence offering the same non-judgemental spirit of collaboration that I give everyone who works with me – with your relationship to creativity at the heart of the work.
So, what would you like to create?
Practicalities:
Meetings take place on Zoom, on Mondays, Fridays, or potentially Saturday mornings.
Cost is €60 per 50-minute session, or €300 for a dedicated 6-session block (for many people, having a specific timeframe like this can really aid motivation and the building of a creative routine/practice).
A small bit about me and why I offer this work:
Living creatively and authentically are core values for me, and my life has been deeply informed by my various passions for music, film, literature, video games and the visual arts, particularly animation. Not coincidentally, a common thread among many of the people I have worked with therapeutically has been some kind of creative/artistic/writerly/musical streak or background. This creative process support work is an organic extension, with a more specific focus on the act of creating.
Oh, and here are some kind words from writer and creative mentor (and mentor to me!) Meg-John Barker – creator/co-creator of ‘Rewriting the Rules: An Anti Self-help Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships,’ ‘Queer: A Graphic History,’ and much more:
I highly recommend Simon to support people in their creative projects. He has a depth of experience and skill across creativity and therapy which makes him particularly well equipped to support both the practical and emotional challenges that come up around creativity. He’s also brilliant at helping people to ignite, and fan the flames, of their creative impulses. I always come away from our sessions together buzzing. Whether you’re an established creative in need of support, or someone who wants to cultivate any kind of creative practice, Simon is an excellent person to have by your side.
Nozomi Counselling & Psychotherapy 