"My experience working with Kobus has been profound.
''I approached him to help me with what seemed like a block in relation to living a creative life.
All efforts to create art works left me feeling dissatisfied and unhappy. As a result my life took on a pattern of abandoning works and only returning to them after a long period of time. I wished to understand why I was doing this in the hope that I could alter this all too familiar cycle of frustration and hopelessness. My goal was to live a healthier, happier and sustained creative life.
''No matter what problem I presented to him he always reverted with an authentic form of assistance. His approach is versatile and all encompassing with its foundation in curiosity, inner awareness and observation.
''He gave me immeasurable doses of support, encouragement and compassion throughout our exchanges and along with his gentle probing he soon became the parent, teacher and friend I always wished I had had.
''He also showed me ways of taking “time out” from unsettling emotions or experiences so that their power over my work was defused.
''A considerable part of his work is in the form of “tools”. These are subtle yet potent methods of dealing with a creative problem or situation at hand. They have gently re shaped my thinking not only about my work, but also about me and the world around me.
''One of the many values of Kobus’ teaching is that the individual is never compromised. He never imposed or forced anything, choosing rather to offer the understanding, knowledge and space for me to come up with my own solutions. This then leads to what he calls “self-coaching”.
''Before long the voice became my own and I became my own best friend - this seems to be non-negotiable in living a fulfilling creative life.
''Working with Kobus has transformed me and left me with a new outlook on art, life and expectation. I feel excited that I am now in a position more able to connect with the potential I always knew I had but found so elusive in the past.''
- Jane, visual artist, Johannesburg
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, December 8, 2008
New things in a fresh way
"Kobus was gentle enough to not trigger my stubborn sensibilities into more silence, and firm enough to get me to try new things. Quite an accomplishment for a poet who has been blocked because of reams and reams of resistance.
''Kobus was adept in getting me to identify my own personal barriers to living the creative life I want in a fresh, humane way."
- LaVon Rice, poet, Mexico
''Kobus was adept in getting me to identify my own personal barriers to living the creative life I want in a fresh, humane way."
- LaVon Rice, poet, Mexico
Monday, August 4, 2008
Freedom to explore
Kobus coached me over a period of twelve weeks, and I can honestly say I gained immeasurably from the experience.
His constant, gentle but persistent encouragement has helped me to take my creative dreams seriously and to take action on their behalf. Although there was structure to the coaching, it also allowed for freedom to explore whatever it was that I was struggling with at the time. This accepting space led me to new insights and the clarity I needed.
Somehow, he urged me to do the work without any blaming and shaming. Seeing as though I tend to react negatively to demands and expectations, his non-judgemental attitude allowed me to find the motivation from within to do the work. His thought-provoking questions were often spot-on, and his suggestions very useful indeed. He re-inforced the need to take daily action toward my dreams.
Mainly, I can say, it was his genuine excitement and belief in my dreams that has helped me. Writing can be a very lonely job, and it was wonderful to have a cheer-leader encouraging me and congratulating me on what I was already doing. I will reread our emails many times throughout the creation of my book. I now feel confident to go it alone, with my inner-coach having been well trained by Kobus.
- Caroline Green, teacher, Johannesburg
His constant, gentle but persistent encouragement has helped me to take my creative dreams seriously and to take action on their behalf. Although there was structure to the coaching, it also allowed for freedom to explore whatever it was that I was struggling with at the time. This accepting space led me to new insights and the clarity I needed.
Somehow, he urged me to do the work without any blaming and shaming. Seeing as though I tend to react negatively to demands and expectations, his non-judgemental attitude allowed me to find the motivation from within to do the work. His thought-provoking questions were often spot-on, and his suggestions very useful indeed. He re-inforced the need to take daily action toward my dreams.
Mainly, I can say, it was his genuine excitement and belief in my dreams that has helped me. Writing can be a very lonely job, and it was wonderful to have a cheer-leader encouraging me and congratulating me on what I was already doing. I will reread our emails many times throughout the creation of my book. I now feel confident to go it alone, with my inner-coach having been well trained by Kobus.
- Caroline Green, teacher, Johannesburg
What is creativity coaching?
by dr. Eric Maisel
As I practice it and envision it, it is one person offering soup-to-nuts help to another person who is trying to live a successful creative life. The creative client may have career concerns, creative blocks, psychological issues, relationship issues, or existential and spiritual crises, and may face a gamut of challenges that come from wanting and needing to create. A creativity coach expects all of this and is ready for all of this.
An effective creativity coach is aware of the big picture: human nature, personality structure, the psychological makeup of creative individuals, the problems inherent in the work creative individuals attempt, the shape of the different intellectual and art marketplaces, and so on. When a client comes in, the coach joins with the new client, as one human being to another and one creative person to another, listens to what the client is saying, and makes observations and suggestions.
Creative clients may doubt that they have talent, may dislike the creative work they've attempted so far, may be confused about what creative projects they ought to be attempting, may be thoroughly down on the world for its lack of interest in their efforts, and so on. All of this the creativity coach expects and is prepared to address.
Creativity coaching is NOT psychotherapy. There may be times when an acting coach, for instance, is aware that he or she is dealing with a student's psychological issues and that those issues are standing in the way of the student finding the willingness to audition, think sensibly about choices, go deep, and so on. The wise acting coach has ways of dealing with this, but he or she is not and should not be acting as a psychotherapist. The same for creativity coaches. They need to have psychological insight and acumen and recognize that psychology is on the table whenever one human being attempts to help another. But the coaching they offer does not represent itself as psychotherapy, any more than the mentoring or coaching that a good writing teacher or art teacher provides represents itself as psychotherapy.
As I practice it and envision it, it is one person offering soup-to-nuts help to another person who is trying to live a successful creative life. The creative client may have career concerns, creative blocks, psychological issues, relationship issues, or existential and spiritual crises, and may face a gamut of challenges that come from wanting and needing to create. A creativity coach expects all of this and is ready for all of this.
An effective creativity coach is aware of the big picture: human nature, personality structure, the psychological makeup of creative individuals, the problems inherent in the work creative individuals attempt, the shape of the different intellectual and art marketplaces, and so on. When a client comes in, the coach joins with the new client, as one human being to another and one creative person to another, listens to what the client is saying, and makes observations and suggestions.
Creative clients may doubt that they have talent, may dislike the creative work they've attempted so far, may be confused about what creative projects they ought to be attempting, may be thoroughly down on the world for its lack of interest in their efforts, and so on. All of this the creativity coach expects and is prepared to address.
Creativity coaching is NOT psychotherapy. There may be times when an acting coach, for instance, is aware that he or she is dealing with a student's psychological issues and that those issues are standing in the way of the student finding the willingness to audition, think sensibly about choices, go deep, and so on. The wise acting coach has ways of dealing with this, but he or she is not and should not be acting as a psychotherapist. The same for creativity coaches. They need to have psychological insight and acumen and recognize that psychology is on the table whenever one human being attempts to help another. But the coaching they offer does not represent itself as psychotherapy, any more than the mentoring or coaching that a good writing teacher or art teacher provides represents itself as psychotherapy.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
A Creativity Coach is more than just a sounding board
A Professional Creativity Coach is:
Your partner in achieving creative goals
Your source of encouragement during a block or spell of doubt
Your champion during a turnaround
Your sounding board when making creative choices
Your motivation when strong actions are called for
Your unconditional support when you take a hit
Your mentor in creative development
Your co-designer when creating an extraordinary artistic project
Your beacon during stormy times
Your Believing Mirror
Your wake-up call if you don't hear your own
And most importantly...A professional coach is your partner in helping you have all of what matters most to you.
As defined by Thomas Leonard, CEO & founder of Coachville.
Your partner in achieving creative goals
Your source of encouragement during a block or spell of doubt
Your champion during a turnaround
Your sounding board when making creative choices
Your motivation when strong actions are called for
Your unconditional support when you take a hit
Your mentor in creative development
Your co-designer when creating an extraordinary artistic project
Your beacon during stormy times
Your Believing Mirror
Your wake-up call if you don't hear your own
And most importantly...A professional coach is your partner in helping you have all of what matters most to you.
As defined by Thomas Leonard, CEO & founder of Coachville.
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