Creative coaching

Written by Katherine Nicholls
Katherine Nicholls
Life Coach Directory Content Team

Last updated 18th July 2024 | Next update due 18th July 2027

Creative coaching (also known as creativity coaching) helps people develop their creative skills and work through any barriers holding them back. On this page, we’ll explore who creative coaching is for, what a creative coach can help you with, and what to expect from your coach.

Creativity is all about thinking in new and different ways. It often involves storytelling and expressing emotion, which is what we tend to see from writers, artists and musicians. It’s also about problem-solving, idea generating and thinking ‘outside the box’, making it imperative for those launching their own business.


What is creativity coaching?

Creativity coaching can help you cultivate your artistic talents, skills, and interests. Working with a creativity coach can also help you overcome areas which may be holding you back creatively, such as trouble with imposter syndrome, self-doubt or low self-confidence. They can also help you find techniques to help work through a creative block. Focusing on how you can benefit from outside-of-the-box thinking, many different people, from all different walks of life can benefit from creative coaching. 


What can creative coaching help with?

Working with a coach offers you space to explore your creative ideas, support and guidance, with coaches acting as your accountability buddies. Coaches use various techniques to help you gain clarity, and then momentum, with your ideas.

If you have a goal in mind (such as launching a business) a creative coach can help you forge a clear path to get there. They won’t tell you what to do or do the work for you. Instead, they’ll encourage you to see things from new perspectives, overcome your stumbling blocks and be your cheerleader throughout the process.

Knowing what creative coaches can support you with can be helpful, so below we’ve put together a list of common reasons people hire a creative coach. This is a brief overview and of course, coaches will differ and may well have further offerings. Hopefully, the ideas here will give you some food for thought. 

Connect with a creativity coach

Is creative coaching just for artists?

In short - no! The term creative coach may lead you to believe that these coaches only work with those in the arts (painters, writers, musicians etc.) but this isn’t the case. Creative coaches can help you to learn new ways of thinking and approaching challenges in your professional or personal life. 

Increase creativity skills

If you have a particular creative skill you would like to improve on (such as photography) seeking out a coach with experience in the field is recommended. Drawing from their own experience and the techniques they’ve learnt as a coach, they can help you kick your creative skills up a gear.

If you work in a creative job, or simply think your role could benefit from a little injection of creativity, improving your creative skills with the help of a coach can be incredibly useful.

Push through creative blocks

It can happen to us all - we lose our creative mojo and get stuck. Ideas seem to dry up and that spark of passion we once had is missing. Creative coaches will be no stranger to this and can work with you to help you find out what’s blocking you and how you can replenish that well of inspiration.

Launching a business

Having an idea and turning it into a business may not be easy, but it is entirely possible. This is where many creative coaches shine, helping you turn that niggling idea in the back of your head into a creative business. Supporting you along the way and offering a mind to bounce ideas off of, creative coaches can be indispensable to entrepreneurs.

Overcoming self-doubt

Fear and self-doubt can often show up when we try something new and when we really, really care about something. It’s the brain’s protective mechanism kicking in, trying to protect you from getting emotionally hurt. The problem is it often kicks in when you really don’t need it to and can hold you back from achieving your dreams.

If this self-doubt rears its ugly head in your creative venture, a creativity coach could help you. Through conversation and other techniques, together you can figure out where your fear is stemming from and how you can push past it.

I hired a creative coach because while I had ideas about the direction of my career, I was struggling to put together a practical plan to make it happen. My coach helped me take a step back to see the bigger picture, then helped me set out the steps I needed to take so I could go away and achieve my ambitions.

- Life Coach Directory writer, Kat Nicholls.

Finding your creative purpose

If you feel like you have a hundred creative ideas running through your head with no idea where to start, creative coaching could help. Together you can work on uncovering what you feel your true purpose is creatively, why you want to do what you do and how best to execute your ideas.

Taking care of yourself

From figuring out how to structure your working week to avoiding burnout, creative coaches can work with you to ensure you’re in the best position to be creative. This means learning to look after yourself, not comparing yourself to others and finding creative inspiration.


Is creative coaching right for me?

Creative coaching is for:

  • anyone who has a creative element in their job role
  • anyone looking to launch a creative business
  • anyone looking to turn their creative hobby into a business
  • anyone who needs support marketing their creative business
  • anyone who simply wants help working on their creative hobby

Different coaches may have different specialities, depending on their background. Finding out more about them, the way they work and seeing the types of clients they’ve previously worked with can help. Many coaches will have a space online to tell you more about them (for example, a profile page on Life Coach Directory, or a separate website). You can contact them to find out more before booking a session.


What to expect from a creative coach

All coaches will be different in their approach and offerings. Most, however, will have a number of packages to offer. These tend to be made up of a certain number of sessions and may include extras like email support and access to free resources.

Many coaches will offer an initial consultation to see if you’re the right fit for each other. This is when you can discuss what you would like support with, find out more about how they work and decide which package may be right for you.

Sessions may take place in person, over the phone or via video chat. Some coaches also offer email coaching. However your sessions take place, the aim is to help you gain more clarity on your situation and find clear steps towards your goals.

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