Creative Mentoring
Creative mentoring for people who already know something is alive in them, even if it’s gone quiet.
This a spacious, relational place to think, make, experiment, and reconnect with your creative voice.
This is not therapy. And it’s not productivity coaching. It’s a thoughtful, collaborative space for creative practice to unfold in its own rhythm.
You don’t need to be polished. You don’t need to be prolific. You don’t need to know where you’re going.
You just need to be willing to stay in conversation with the work.
Who This Space Is For
Depending on the context, offerings may explore:
+ Creative and expressive process
+ Embodied and somatic inquiry
+ Reflective practice and supervision themes
+ Ethics, care, and sustainability in relational work
+ Writing, poetry, and creative thinking
+ Place, land, and ecological attention
+ Working with complexity, transition, and change
Some offerings lean more personal, some more professional. Many sit somewhere in between.
You don’t need to identify as a “professional artist.”
If creativity matters to you, this space is for you.
How We Work
Creative Mentoring is collaborative, responsive, and process-led.
Together we may explore:
+ Writing prompts & generative exercises
+ Arts-based and imaginative processes
+ Reflective dialogue and meaning-making
+ Creative rhythm-building (rather than rigid routines)
+ Project development & manuscript support
+ Gentle accountability and momentum
+ Feedback that strengthens voice rather than flattens it
Sessions adapt to what’s alive for you, whether that’s idea-generation, refinement, courage, or rest.
Creative Mentoring works best when it has time and continuity.
Rather than one-off sessions, I usually work with people in short- or medium-term mentoring containers that can gently hold a creative season or a longer project.
All new mentoring relationships begin with a free 20-minute online conversation, so we can meet, talk about what you’re working with, and decide together what kind of support would fit best.
There is no obligation to continue after this conversation.
What Sessions Feel Like
Most people describe these sessions as clarifying, energising, grounding, and creatively relieving. Sessions are:
+ Online (Zoom) (tea, notebooks, dogs, messy desks welcome)
+ Spacious, conversational, and creatively focused
+ No pressure to “produce” on demand
+ We can work with writing, images, objects, movement, or conversation
+ Structure when helpful, looseness when needed
+ Encouraging, honest, and quietly catalytic
What This Is (and Isn’t)
Creative Mentoring Is:
+ About your creative practice
+ Focused on voice, process, and direction
+ Supportive without being therapeutic
+ Imaginative, thoughtful, and sustaining
Creative Mentoring Is Not:
+ Therapy or counseling
+ Crisis support
+ Formula-based coaching
( Some people work with me in both Creative Mentoring and Creative Arts Therapy at different times, depending on what support they need. )
Creative Mentoring Packages
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The Returning Season is a three-month mentoring container for returning to your creative practice, beginning a project, or rebuilding rhythm after a period of interruption, burnout, grief, or doubt.
This offering is especially suited to people who are:
coming back after a long pause
feeling blocked, scattered, or unsure where to begin
wanting accountability that feels humane rather than punishing
ready to re-enter their creative life with steady support
Includes:
6 mentoring sessions (55 minutes, usually fortnightly)
Support with creative rhythm, blocks, and project shaping
Thoughtful accountability and momentum
Optional brief responses to selected work between sessions, as appropriate to your practice.
Contribution: $1150
Payment plans available
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A six-month 1:1 mentoring container for writers and artists holding a substantial project, manuscript, or long creative crossing, and wanting sustained, relational support as it unfolds.
This offering is suited to people who are:
working on a manuscript or major creative project
in the middle of something complex, uncertain, or long-held
wanting continuity, accountability, and depth
seeking a mentor who honours both process and outcome
Includes:12 mentoring sessions (55 minutes, usually fortnightly)
Sustained project holding and accountability
Optional brief responses to selected work between sessions, as appropriate to your practice
Contribution: $2200Payment plans available
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If you’re working with a specific project, deadline, or unusual rhythm, we can design a mentoring arrangement that suits your needs.
Available by enquiry after an initial conversation. -
Single Creative Mentoring sessions are available for returning clients who would like occasional support, check-ins, or project tuning, subject to availability.
Why People Choose Creative Mentoring
People often come to this work because they want:
+ Support without pathologising
+ Accountability without shame
+ Feedback without flattening their voice
+ Structure without rigidity
+ A mentor who understands sensitive, strange, nonlinear creative processes
This is a place to make work that feels like yours.
Practical Details
Session length: 55 minutes
Where: Online (Zoom) or occasional in-person sessions in Whāingaroa/Raglan
Cancellation: Full fee with less than 24 hours’ notice (except emergencies)
Creative Mentoring is available year-round, with limited spaces
What People Say
Words shared with permission from participants in creative mentoring and poetic practice spaces.
“I wanted a gate back into writing, and I got that. I stopped worrying about writing ‘good’ poems and started exploring what was possible.”
- Writer
“It has felt like a part of me has come home. I feel more myself, inspired and alive more of the time when I’m writing.”
- Poet
“My writing has more options now. I feel celebrated and encouraged to see my work, and myself, as valuable, which is such a gift.”
- Artist
“The accountability and consistency really mattered. Even noticing my resistance was part of the learning, and remembering how good it felt to return.”
- Musician
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. You don’t need formal training or to identify as a “professional.”
If creativity matters to you, this space is for you.
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No. Creative Mentoring focuses on creative practice, process, and projects.
It’s not therapy and doesn’t replace therapeutic support.
Some people work with me in both Creative Mentoring and Creative Arts Therapy at different times, depending on what they need.
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Each session is different. We might write together, reflect on work in progress, explore blocks, generate ideas, or gently shape a project forward.
There’s no pressure to produce or perform.
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Yes. Feedback and extended project or manuscript support are available by arrangement.
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No. A notebook and pen are plenty. We work with what you already have.
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No. Some people book a single session; others work together over time. We’ll find a rhythm that suits you.
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I work with adults (18+).
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I make space for a small number of reduced-fee mentoring places for people who experience structural barriers to accessing creative support, for example across gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, or disability.
Because my practice is small, these spaces are very limited and not always available. If this feels relevant to you, you’re welcome to mention it when you reach out.