Think of the process as a fusion of creative expression and personal development work. Participants may gain clarity around an issue, such as finding one's life purpose, and/or get in touch with one's creative Self. The process tends to be a place of discovery with Aha! moments peppered throughout a session or workshop.

What forms of creative expression are utilized?
This is a sample list of the different ways coaches and facilitators engage you in the creative process for clarity and self-discovery:

Visual Arts: painting, drawing, collage, clay, masks, sculpting, sand tray, mandalas, mixed media

Writing: poetry, haiku, journaling, memoir writing, creative writing, short stories

Music: drumming, singing, music-making, listening, song writing, sounding

Movement: dance, breath work, authentic movement

Drama: storytelling, theater games, role playing

Who would be interested in a workshop or session?
Anyone who is interested in one or all of the following:

• unleashing and widening the space for their creative Self to surface
• finding answers and exploring ideas about their careers, life purpose, self-esteem, and relationships (such as a spouse/partner, family, friends, colleague, or boss)
• someone who currently works in the creative arts such as writers, artists, dancers, designers who are experiencing a block or who wishes to dive deeper into their art form or explore another

Why would someone choose to attend an expressive arts coaching or facilitation workshop or session?
They are ready to try something new and different, and believe that something can happen while engaging in art-making. They are excited to venture into a deeper understanding of themselves while engaging in the creative process whatever form that may be - writing, collage, drumming, etc.

Anything else?
Expressive Arts Coaching and Facilitation can be therapeutic but it is not therapy. There are expressive arts/creative arts therapists, art therapists, music therapists, and drama therapists who do some coaching and facilitation BUT a coach or facilitator usually is not providing therapy because they are not licensed nor is it the focus of their work. Coaches and facilitators do not diagnose. Some clients work with a coach/facilitator as an alternative to, or as a complement to, their traditional talk therapy.

Lastly, the client does not need to be artistic to reap the benefits of this style of personal development! The focus is on process not product.

1. What do you do? (career wise - whatever you want to share)

i am a filmmaker (www.TheMuslimsIKnow.com), an artist, a blogger (www.maraahmed.com), and an activist.

2. How did you prepare for this career? (formal and informal education, books, workshops?)

i have an MBA and a master's degree in economics. i worked in finance for many years, designing mathematical models for business analysis. i switched careers in 2004 and took some art classes at nazareth college. i went into filmmaking about a year later. took classes at the visual studies workshop in rochester and at RIT.

in today's world i think that we cannot help but be involved in politics one way or the other. for me that participation is motivated by my interest in human rights. living in this incredibly interconnected world, to me art, truth and politics are all intricately linked. joseph nechvatal said it best: “my deep feeling is that today art must indict, or at the very least, play the role of the jester who unmasks the unspeakable lies of the powerful. americans have been deceived and victimized by our government’s propaganda, and if art cannot rebuff and contest this grave situation by fueling the political will and imagination of resistance, I wonder why we need it at all.”

4. What struggles or challenges do you face, if any?

my only challenge is that there are simply too many stories, too many ideas, too many media i am interested in exploring all at once. so i have a tremendous idea for an art exhibit related to the iraq war, but i also have an idea for writing a play about a pakistani woman who has been kept in indefinite detention without trial and whose three young children were "disappeared" along with her about 6 years ago. finally i am working on two documentaries - one about the situation in pakistan and another about the partition of india in 1947.

5. Can you give some advice to folks who would like to do what you do?

1. What do you do? (career wise - whatever you want to share)
I have a website called The Yarn Wench where I sell my hand-dyed, handspun art yarns and hand-dyed fiber for other spinners and fiber artists. I'm starting my 4th year in business.

2. How did you prepare for this career? (formal and informal education, books, workshops?)
I got my B.A. in Fine Arts from Indiana University. My area of concentration was Woven and Constructed Textile Design and I studied with acclaimed weaver Budd Stalnaker. For a number of years until I had my first child I was a full-time weaver and spinner in the San Francisco area. After my first baby came along I became a full-time mom and squeezed fiber art and my other artistic passions (complex cloth design, mixed media, collagraphy, jewelry making, quilting, paper making, to name a few) into my rare free moments. It wasn't until my husband was downsized from a job he'd held for 15 years that I suddenly found myself needing to make a living. I turned to the only thing I knew after 17 years as a stay-at-home mom - my art. The Yarn Wench was launched and I'm having the time of my life!

3. Besides living according to the values of creativity and independence, what other values are you honoring by following this path? I am able to live a simple life free from the stress and anxiety of the corporate world. I'm afraid I would wither away if I weren't able to express myself creatively. In my business I don't even have to leave home - the postman comes to me to pick up my outgoing orders and to bring me my supplies! A typical week involves several days manning the dye pots, some time at the spinning wheel, photographing and inventorying the items I have completed each week, launching an update, invoicing and shipping out my orders. I enjoy how this little business is a self-contained entity that I control - and it feeds my soul!

4. What struggles or challenges do you face, if any? At first, it was hard to realize and adjust to the number of hours of work it took to get established. I went from a full-time mom to a full-time mom and a full-time business woman practically overnight. Suddenly I was working 7 days a week as a Yarn Wench and that went on for two years until my husband found full-time employment again! I was the breadwinner for the first time in our marriage. It was a challenge but it also was the best thing to have happened to me personally as I really got back to my artistic roots and reunited with what I do best.

5. Can you give some advice to folks who would like to do what you do? Make sure you're passionate about what you are doing! Starting a little business like mine is so much more work than you might imagine. With that said, it is also one of the most fulfilling things you'll ever undertake! Make a schedule and stick to it - it's too easy to find other things to distract you when you're working from home. Treat your business like a full-time job. And have fun!