Some commonly-asked questions
If your question isn’t answered below, please get in touch.
I don't get it, how does it work?
It’s great that you’re curious. Learn how and why coaching with collage is a powerful tool for personal and professional development at the science behind the art.
If you’re interested in an in-depth explanation, you can purchase my book Collage as a Creative Coaching Tool: A Comprehensive Resource for Coaches and Psychologists. Alternatively, attend one of my Q&A sessions or book a talk.
I'm not creative will I be able to do it?
Firstly, yes you will. Secondly, because creativity is often associated with the ‘arts sector’, you’re either considered a creative type or not. But this isn’t correct, everyone is creative, you just may not know it yet.
Creativity is also a way of thinking so it can manifest in many different ways including how you dress, teach your children or deliver a presentation etc.
Where creativity includes a product, this usually involves a degree of skills, practice and knowledge of relevant techniques. However, as it doesn’t matter what your coaching collage looks like, no specialist skills or techniques are needed. Instead, it’s all about the process, which you’ll be expertly guided through step by step.
Isn't it childish?
It’s not childish but it is childlike. Do you remember how it felt to be open minded and curious with a lack of self- judgement? To take risks, allowing anything to happen while having fun without thoughts of a right or wrong way of doing something. Simply enjoying taking part. These are the characteristics of play, the fuel of creative thinking and that’s why we’re pleased to say Coaching with Collage is a ‘childlike’ activity.
Is it the same as a vision board?
Good question, but no. The materials are the same and the finished piece looks similar; a sheet of cardboard with images glued in place. However, vision boards are always future-oriented, therefore you intentionally look for images to represent what you want in the future. The Collage Coaching Technique™ is a psychological coaching tool focused on letting your intuition and unconscious have an opportunity to be heard. This approach allows room for the unexplored and unexpressed to surface, as well as your strengths and values. All of this information is useful in helping you achieve your aspirations. You can read a more detailed explanation of the difference in this blog post.
Is it Art Therapy?
No, and I’m not a certified Art Therapist. But having completed an Art Therapy Foundation course I draw on the principles of using an arts-based approach to explore and understand the unconscious and its emotional drivers that affect your decisions, mindset and behaviour. This increase in self-awareness improves the chances of you making the right decisions for yourself concerning your situation. The approach has been developed to better suit the needs of coaching clients by working with thoughts, ideas and aspirations alongside emotions.
Where do you get all your magazines from?
I’ve created a FREE downloadable guide on where to source free and low-cost magazines. To get your copy click here.
How do I book a coaching session or workshop?
Coaching with collage is offered for both individuals and groups as a classic (with magazines – in person or online) or an online digital version. Information on booking a 1-1 or group workshops.
It looks like something I could do myself, what difference do you make?
Feedback from clients consistently demonstrates that you’ll benefit from having a coach to guide you through the creative process and ask questions about your coaching collage. This discussion and exploration enables you to discover additional meaning, insights, clarity and focus. Because you’re accessing unconscious thinking, my role is also to create a safe space for expression without reservation or fear of judgement.
Creativity Involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
— EDWARD DE BONO