Creative Well Coaching™ is a positive, proactive and artful way for anyone stuck in the midst of a big life change and feeling lost, anxious, and confused, asking, “Where did my life go? Nothing is the same. How do I move on from here?”, to rediscover their optimal self, to set their own unique path to wellbeing, and to create a life they can love — no matter where they find themselves now. 

Creative Well Coaching is based on the idea that the best way to change is YOUR way, and the best way to do that is by drawing from your own “creative well” — a deep inner source of calm, clarity, information, and inspiration to help you know what you truly want, and how to get it! 

Creative Well Coaching is for you if: 

—something in your life has or is about to change, and you are asking,“Who am I now, How do I live with this? Where do I go from here?” 

—or, you feel stuck in “neutral”. That old song,“The thrill is gone”, seems to apply to you. The joy is missing from life; you wake up in the morning with nothing to be excited for.

—You’re not sure what you want, or even what to hope for. In fact, you are afraid to hope; you might be badly let down.

—You think, “Even if I know what I want, I don’t know the steps to get there. And I’m not sure I could take them if I did.”

—Big “buts!” keep getting in your way. Other people’s fears and your own are stopping you. You’re the deer frozen in headlights; you can’t go forward and there’s no going back.

—the “rules” you used to live by just don’t work anymore. You wonder, are you somehow being punished or tested; is it all your fault? (It’s not!)

—You’ve tried all kinds of advice and self-help programs, but were disappointed. They didn’t work because they just didn’t fit you!

For years I struggled with feelings just like these. It began when I was diagnosed with a life-altering autoimmune illness that medicine helped, but could not actually“cure”; in fact, the side-effects of the treatments I had to take were themselves harsh and debilitating. I changed from being a person who was active, successful and excited by life to one who was now chronically sick, sidelined and sad. I hardly recognized myself; worse, I didn’t have a clue what the future would now hold for me. One of my doctors actually told me, “You better get used to this; patients who have what you have usually survive, but they are miserable much of the time.”

That sounded like a “life-sentence” to me, and I decided then and there I would somehow break free. I would rely on conventional medical help, but knew intuitively that getting my life back would have as much to do with aligning my mind and spirit than just “fixing” my body.

And so began my deep dive into the world of alternative treatments and therapies. I explored Chinese Traditional Medicine, kinesiology, psychology, various diets, homeopathy; I read everything I could about the mind-body connection, took trainings in energy therapies like EFT; and I would go into remission for long periods of time, and then get sick again.

Each time, I would learn something new to add to my arsenal of healing modalities, and felt more and more that even if I couldn’t get better, I could still have a life worth living. But the real breakthrough came when something I did every day as “work” suddenly became my best form of therapy. 

I was a painter. And each morning I would set out my paints and have a canvas on my easel ready to create still life paintings or portraits or landscapes. These paintings were (and are) realistic and done in a classical style that requires great discipline and technical control. In fact “disciplined” and “controlled” was the way I did pretty much everything in my life.

Except this one day I came home from the doctor’s office with yet another “bad” report card… and I was ANGRY! I did not want to read or study or practice even one more technique for improving my life! Dammit, I just wanted to be normal. Now. I picked up the paintbrush and dipped it into the colors that were waiting on my palette and without any discipline whatsoever began slashing away at the blank canvas on my easel. I didn’t think, I didn’t analyze, I just made marks. And the marks I was made seemed to be coming directly out of my body, from that place I was feeling my anger and pain. I painted and painted until a sense of unusual calm came over me. I felt somehow complete. That night I slept well, (unusual for me), and noticed I actually felt great the next day.

I decided to continue to paint in that “out of control” way. And so I did for the next ten days. Each painting seemed to have things to tell me. Old stories that had not been completed now had endings; feelings that had not been felt, bits of information about things I had been ignoring began to be revealed to me. Sometimes I would paint this way for hours; sometimes minutes was all it took for the painting to bring me to peace.

On the tenth day of painting this way I went back for another doctor’s appointment. My blood tests showed I was much improved. Another ten days went by and another ten paintings, and my next blood test was the best I’d ever had — in years! My results were completely normal. And so it remains— 13 years years later.

In that time, I began to share this method of using art with others struggling with difficult life situations. I call the process “inner explorations”. 

Using art in this way has become the cornerstone of Creative Well Coaching.  When combined with my skills in applied positive psychology  (CAPP, CAPP Coaching, CAPP Flourishing Skills leader) and other  modalities, people make  lasting progress toward creating a life of fulfillment and joy. For more about what it’s like to work with me, go to Working with Louise.