Teaching

Creative Expression for Senior Citizens

One of the most satisfying aspects of my work is helping people find or fine-tune their voice. When it comes to the senior citizen population, this takes on a whole new dimension. They want to be treated as people, not old people, and this extends to their storytelling and free expression.

With this weekly program, I visit senior citizens centers and facilitate a writing and discussion hour-plus. We sit around a table, I give them a writing prompt, they write for 20 minutes, and then they share what they’ve written. Discussion ensues.

As trust is established, group members dig in and reveal themselves in ways that surprise and delight them. Sometimes it scares them to go to places they thought they left far behind. It can get emotional. Debates break out. We learn. Sometimes it has a spiritual component. I encourage and facilitate, but they lead.

Thank you for listening to us. –Katharine, current student

Contact me to inquire about bringing this program to your senior center.

 

‘The Artist’s Way’ Group Facilitation

flockAuthor Julia Cameron has created a classic with a cult following in her book, The Artist’s Way, and it is my pleasure to guide students through its 12-week program. I first began teaching it in 2001. A few years after that, while taking the course with Cameron in New York City, she asked those in attendance who among us was also teaching it; I proudly stood with a handful of others and she smiled broadly.

Her message and curriculum filled with a masterful combination of probing and gentle exercises continue to resonate and effect change decades after the book’s publication.

This course is for you if you are feeling stifled or stuck in your life, have a desire to engage or re-engage your creativity, or you simply want to shake things up. Through years of facilitating Artist’s Way groups, I have derived joy from watching the skeptical come around, the confused find direction, and a former public relations professional seeking a fresh start become the mayor of my town.

I also do private coaching in The Artist’s Way for those who want to experience it one on one.

Here are just a few examples of what participants shared after taking The Artist’s Way with me:

Thank you for teaching me The Artist’s Way for the past eleven Tuesdays. I have left … feeling comforted and inspired by the discussions you facilitated, the questions you asked, and the insights you shared … Among the many things I’ve learned over the past twelve weeks, you’ve taught by example the importance of appreciating the beauty, festivity, and art in the every day.
–Christie, former student

The concert was amazing … I received a standing ovation after my solo performance … [it] was a dream come true … The “baby steps” you helped guide me through have made dramatic changes in my life and I am ever so grateful to you for leading the way … thank you.
–Albert, former student

Contact me to inquire about upcoming groups.