What is the ORIGIN of Creative Journaling?

The Creative Journaling is a new term under the umbrella of coaching methods. Inspired by her own experiences with Design Thinking, Journal Writing and Art Journaling, Stefanie Voss (leadership and communication expert) developed the first creative journaling exercises for different business coaching applications in individual coaching and coaching workshops for groups in 2014.

The success of the method initiated her disposal of Creative Journaling in an online coaching format. This product was for the first time available in early 2015 and offered for participants of different professional and personal backgrounds. Due to the extremely positive response, the online format (under the name „LEADER on my SHIP program“) is currently offered with multi-line workshop seasons every year. Creative Journaling is also applied in numerous individual coaching and in-house coaching workshops.

The methodological scope and diversity of the different topics and exercises is expanded regularly and continuously. The focus is mainly on Business Coaching and Life Coaching.

Related techniques and methods:

Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a concept, which should lead to solving problems and developing new ideas. The goal is to find solutions, which are convincing from the user’s perspective.
Design Thinking is based on the assumption, that problems can be solved in a better way, when people from different disciplines work together in a creativity-supporting environment and jointly develop a question, consider the needs and motivations of people, and then develop and implement concepts directly. Through an iterative process, these are immediately reviewed and further developed several times. Multiple international companies and organizations of all sizes use design thinking as a project, innovation, portfolio and / or development method.

Art-Coaching

Art Coaching, creative Coaching is an ambiguous term that can refer to different approaches to coaching, dealing either in a broad sense with creative methods or art and its perception. The various definitions include from a range of a creative approach to coaching on the use of creative techniques in coaching, to the use of art as a part of the coaching.

Examples of the application:
Art Coaching is regarded as the art of finding the most effective approach in every situation to overcome various challenges and identify new and innovative practices.

Creative Coaching in groups should help to support practical social skills and bridge the gap between ambitious goals and daily practice. The parallels with art can be seen in the design of social space, relationship and interaction and the resulting growth.

Art Coaching makes it possible to develop internal models after your own wishes and needs and to then utilize them for team building and common goal setting.

Art Journaling

Art Journaling means literally „Artful Diary“, which is thus meant to be a more creative adventure book and doesn’t have to have necessarily daily entries.
Many different forms of expression can be used: scribbling, painting, drawing, photography, collage, stamps, templates, font, different materials. Primarily, in Art Journaling, it is all about being creatively active and expressing visually the experiences, ideas and wishes of one’s life. It’s not necessarily about creating a beautiful picture, the process itself can be even more important.

Journal-Writing

Journal-Writing is the modern description for handling a daily study book. Unlike a diary, the journal not only serves to note personal memories and thoughts, but also it is focusing on one thing: In the Journal, different results of journalistic research, scientific work or similar projects are kept. In comparison to the notebook or sticky notes, not only factual information, but also their personal evaluation and interpretation are the main focus.
As a method of creative writing, keeping a journal is useful for continuously writing while working on a topic and thus to remain in the “writing flow”. It helps to understand and control your own writing process in a better way. In the context of the scientific – propaedeutical writing, it is about learning about the fact, that texts are not created at the end of a development phase, but in a permanent process of writing and revising.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy supports the ability to perceive and grasp the environment directly through the senses. It sets on the profound basic human need, to express yourself creatively and to get in touch with others.
Both, the design process itself, as well as the resulting works serve within the therapeutic event as a „demonstration and rehearsal room“, in which actions and mindsets are considered and further developed to a more meaningful change. In the art therapy process, creative resources can be rediscovered, self-healing powers and various change processes can be encouraged.
In recent years, art therapy had been increasingly used in the consultations for coaching processes and team development in different corporate structures through therapeutical settings.