Writing Time - How does it work?
You can attend one of my Writing Time group workshops (see the EVENTS section of this website) or you can apply to work with me on a one-to-one basis. I also offer correspondence courses. Details and costs of all the ways I offer Writing Time work are at the the bottom of this page.
In Writing Time group workshops and one-to-one sessions I draw on my training, skills and experience as a words for wellbeing practitioner.
I offer a structure - an agreed time and framework - within which we will work together. If you wish to work on a one-to-one basis, I am guided by you as to the number of sessions and the intervals between them. This is established during an initial email exchange where I will also ask you to identify what you wish to address or explore in our work together. This guides me in the material and approach I will offer you at the outset. As we progress I will naturally be guided by the evolving stages of the journey and be sensitive to where the process might lead us. It is a shared experience of exploration, held within the structure we set up and my accompanying presence and reflection. It is fed by the creative and therapeutic process that occurs when the right circumstances are at play - a willing participant, a competent facilitator who is holding a 'safe enough' structure, and the creative activities offered.
Within this structure I will:
create a culture of gentle invitation and respectful listening;
facilitate activities which let us temporarily suspend notions of 'good' or 'poor' writing. I am alert, rather, to the nuances of your perspective - your story, your challenges, your discoveries and explorations;
invite you, through the prompts and material I offer you, to explore and experiment with what is current for you;
offer a wide range of relevant prompts and stimuli which serve to help the less conscious sides of your life have space to become visible;
support you to work at the pace and depth you choose and are comfortable with;
write alongside you;
create time within the structure for creative writing, reflection and sharing - sometimes simply sitting together with what is discovered through the writing;
Additionally:
No-one is forced to write or to share their writing. The process I adhere to encourages the writer to choose the pace and depth at which they explore their own revelations, discoveries and creations.
Writing in response to a themed prompt such as a poem, a picture or an object can stimulate curiosity, imagination, insight and revelation as well as the pleasure of creativity. There is always a connection to the chosen theme and at the same time prompts can be subtle and open to individual interpretation.
The sharing and the reflections of others in the group are invaluable. The group dynamic can amplify the experience for all participants and introduce new voices, ideas and points of view as well as new friends. Working one-to-one, on the other hand, gives you the space, privacy and the opportunity for us to focus on what you wish to. Both formats have benefits. You can choose which one meets your needs best at this point in time.
What I require from you:
recognition and acknowledgement that what I am offering is a fit for what you are looking for to support you (this may take some time, discussion and research);
clear recognition that you feel ready to enter this creative and therapeutic experience with me;
a fee for my commitment to the work of facilitating Writing Time sessions for you.
My specialist interest
My MSc research and dissertation (see the essays under the 'more' section of this website) focused on the opportunity CWTP gives for adults to play in a therapeutic context. The study is available to read by clicking on the following title:
An investigation into what happens when I, as a facilitator of Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP), conduct a single research session entitled 'Exploring Play Through Creative Writing' with adults in Britain.
Because of this research and the way I naturally work, some of my participants have told me that they view the work I offer rather as a therapeutic and creative 'playground', using the pen as the catalyst for shifts in perspectives and experiences. In contrast to childhood experiences of the playground - not, alas, always a positive experience - my presence as a guide, an ally and a witness to a participant's process provides an opportunity to explore the more free and playful aspects of them self in a benignly witnessed context. My priority is to create a safe enough space in the Writing Time for exploration, development and change to be possible.
Breakdown of costs:
Individual sessions, including practitioner mentoring by phone or Zoom: £50 per hour
The next two categories are currently being delivered on-line, via Zoom, while Covid restrictions apply.
Group workshops that I initiate: this varies but I charge roughly £35 / per person for a three hour workshop and roughly £70 per person for a day long workshop. Both are dependent on the specific context and expected numbers anticipated. The cost will be made explicit for each event in all advance publicity.
Bespoke workshops (invitations to me to deliver Writing Time sessions on behalf of organisations): £40 per hour of contact time plus an additional 1.5 hours' preparation time, travel costs and a budget for materials and any additional administrative costs, as appropriate. These will be established and agreed between us during our initial conversations where we establish our respective responsibilities to the work.
Correspondence courses provide an alternative way of engaging with my work.
1. Traveling While Sitting Still is a one-to-one online correspondence course for individuals wishing to experience writing for wellbeing with me. Detailed reflective feedback, in written form, is given in response to each assignment to support the way you explore the material offered.
Cost = £385 for a course of eight assignments and three thirty minute phone calls.
Please click here for more details about the introduction to writing for wellbeing correspondence course - Traveling While Sitting Still - for individuals.
For a booking form please click HERE
2. Practitioner mentoring is a one-to-one online correspondence course for new practitioners of CWTP/ W4W or counselors and psychotherapists who are beginning to incorporate therapeutic writing into their practice. Detailed reflective feedback, in written form, is given in response to each assignment to support the way you explore the material offered.
Cost = £225 for a course of four assignments and three thirty minute phone calls.
Please click here for more details about the mentoring for practitioners correspondence course.
For a booking form please click HERE
For an illustrated account of what my work can look and feel like, follow this link to read a description of a series of workshops delivered in Autumn 2017 at the Bath museum, No.1 Royal Crescent, in partnership with AgeUK (Bath and North East Somerset).
You can attend one of my Writing Time group workshops (see the EVENTS section of this website) or you can apply to work with me on a one-to-one basis. I also offer correspondence courses. Details and costs of all the ways I offer Writing Time work are at the the bottom of this page.
In Writing Time group workshops and one-to-one sessions I draw on my training, skills and experience as a words for wellbeing practitioner.
I offer a structure - an agreed time and framework - within which we will work together. If you wish to work on a one-to-one basis, I am guided by you as to the number of sessions and the intervals between them. This is established during an initial email exchange where I will also ask you to identify what you wish to address or explore in our work together. This guides me in the material and approach I will offer you at the outset. As we progress I will naturally be guided by the evolving stages of the journey and be sensitive to where the process might lead us. It is a shared experience of exploration, held within the structure we set up and my accompanying presence and reflection. It is fed by the creative and therapeutic process that occurs when the right circumstances are at play - a willing participant, a competent facilitator who is holding a 'safe enough' structure, and the creative activities offered.
Within this structure I will:
create a culture of gentle invitation and respectful listening;
facilitate activities which let us temporarily suspend notions of 'good' or 'poor' writing. I am alert, rather, to the nuances of your perspective - your story, your challenges, your discoveries and explorations;
invite you, through the prompts and material I offer you, to explore and experiment with what is current for you;
offer a wide range of relevant prompts and stimuli which serve to help the less conscious sides of your life have space to become visible;
support you to work at the pace and depth you choose and are comfortable with;
write alongside you;
create time within the structure for creative writing, reflection and sharing - sometimes simply sitting together with what is discovered through the writing;
Additionally:
No-one is forced to write or to share their writing. The process I adhere to encourages the writer to choose the pace and depth at which they explore their own revelations, discoveries and creations.
Writing in response to a themed prompt such as a poem, a picture or an object can stimulate curiosity, imagination, insight and revelation as well as the pleasure of creativity. There is always a connection to the chosen theme and at the same time prompts can be subtle and open to individual interpretation.
The sharing and the reflections of others in the group are invaluable. The group dynamic can amplify the experience for all participants and introduce new voices, ideas and points of view as well as new friends. Working one-to-one, on the other hand, gives you the space, privacy and the opportunity for us to focus on what you wish to. Both formats have benefits. You can choose which one meets your needs best at this point in time.
What I require from you:
recognition and acknowledgement that what I am offering is a fit for what you are looking for to support you (this may take some time, discussion and research);
clear recognition that you feel ready to enter this creative and therapeutic experience with me;
a fee for my commitment to the work of facilitating Writing Time sessions for you.
My specialist interest
My MSc research and dissertation (see the essays under the 'more' section of this website) focused on the opportunity CWTP gives for adults to play in a therapeutic context. The study is available to read by clicking on the following title:
An investigation into what happens when I, as a facilitator of Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP), conduct a single research session entitled 'Exploring Play Through Creative Writing' with adults in Britain.
Because of this research and the way I naturally work, some of my participants have told me that they view the work I offer rather as a therapeutic and creative 'playground', using the pen as the catalyst for shifts in perspectives and experiences. In contrast to childhood experiences of the playground - not, alas, always a positive experience - my presence as a guide, an ally and a witness to a participant's process provides an opportunity to explore the more free and playful aspects of them self in a benignly witnessed context. My priority is to create a safe enough space in the Writing Time for exploration, development and change to be possible.
Breakdown of costs:
Individual sessions, including practitioner mentoring by phone or Zoom: £50 per hour
The next two categories are currently being delivered on-line, via Zoom, while Covid restrictions apply.
Group workshops that I initiate: this varies but I charge roughly £35 / per person for a three hour workshop and roughly £70 per person for a day long workshop. Both are dependent on the specific context and expected numbers anticipated. The cost will be made explicit for each event in all advance publicity.
Bespoke workshops (invitations to me to deliver Writing Time sessions on behalf of organisations): £40 per hour of contact time plus an additional 1.5 hours' preparation time, travel costs and a budget for materials and any additional administrative costs, as appropriate. These will be established and agreed between us during our initial conversations where we establish our respective responsibilities to the work.
Correspondence courses provide an alternative way of engaging with my work.
1. Traveling While Sitting Still is a one-to-one online correspondence course for individuals wishing to experience writing for wellbeing with me. Detailed reflective feedback, in written form, is given in response to each assignment to support the way you explore the material offered.
Cost = £385 for a course of eight assignments and three thirty minute phone calls.
Please click here for more details about the introduction to writing for wellbeing correspondence course - Traveling While Sitting Still - for individuals.
For a booking form please click HERE
2. Practitioner mentoring is a one-to-one online correspondence course for new practitioners of CWTP/ W4W or counselors and psychotherapists who are beginning to incorporate therapeutic writing into their practice. Detailed reflective feedback, in written form, is given in response to each assignment to support the way you explore the material offered.
Cost = £225 for a course of four assignments and three thirty minute phone calls.
Please click here for more details about the mentoring for practitioners correspondence course.
For a booking form please click HERE
For an illustrated account of what my work can look and feel like, follow this link to read a description of a series of workshops delivered in Autumn 2017 at the Bath museum, No.1 Royal Crescent, in partnership with AgeUK (Bath and North East Somerset).