Creativity Incubator

The Creativity Incubator 9 Week Program

Week 1 - Awareness through Nature

Nature based process where eco-facilitation and bio-mimicry is used help people navigate the dynamics, purpose and make up of self awareness. Through interacting with the eco-system participants learn about spiritual principles in an experiential way while being coached on how to apply these principles in their recovery. It also creates a great opportunity for people to discover a beautiful nature spot where they can relax, rejuvenate and reflect on their higher power.

Week 2 - Meaning through Story Telling

Ken Wilber describes Spirituality as the relationship that we have with the relationship between things. Our relationship between "things" is highly influenced by the way we describe our world and the stories that we tell ourselves. The story we tell in addiction is very different from the story we tell in recovery and from sharing the story and wisdom of Dr Viktor Frankl, the facilitator shows that no matter how difficult a situation, we have the choice to decide what things mean and how we will respond.  To build participants awareness around what their current story really is, the facilitator engages in an exercise called Movie Trailers. It builds builds on and supports the Life Story, a significant part of the recovery process, and turns it into a fun, creative and highly interesting exercise. Creating a movie trailer of your life is a very effective way of distilling down to the very essence, energy, feeling and dominant story of your life. Whether it’s a comedy, adventure, thriller or drama, the group realises that they have the ability to turn their lives into something that inspires them by starting to tell the story.

Week 3- Respect through musical Collaboration

The isolation that we feel in addiction is often as a result of the insecurity, fear and judgements that we make of ourselves in relation to other people. In recovery we need to be open to new experiences, diverse cultures and collaborating with new people. This process is designed to take people out of their comfort zones in a safe way such that they learn creative confidence and how to work together with people. The facilitator will take the group, many of who have never played a musical instrument never mind having played together, and will transform them into a band that plays music which inspires and empowers. The metaphor of the orchestra is used to demonstrate principles such as respect, team work, acknowledgement and faith.

Week 4- Acceptance through the story of Evolution

This nature based experience is designed to challenge addicts on their need to judge, criticise and blame by embracing that life is about learning, change and ultimately transformation. Every one of the principles and values that society holds dear were hard lessons that were learned by our ancestors as they seeked to meet their needs in extreme, unconscious and even selfish ways. The facilitator shares a powerful narrative that takes the participants on a journey to the Cradle of Mankind, where life began almost 4 billion years ago, and takes them to present day to show where our values come from and how they have evolved over time. The experience leave participants with a better understanding of what drives their behaviour and greater feeling of self acceptance.

Week 5- Expression through Movement

One of the most important skills required for long term sobriety is creative confidence- we need to express ourselves to feel significant, purposeful and that we are making a positive contribution. We lose many of those skills in addiction and substances became the only vehicle we could use to overcome our inhibitions and express the dominant emotions that we experience. This process helps people to experience various emotions through music and to express them through the vehicle of movement. Dancing provides huge amounts of pleasure yet stepping out of one’s comfort zone to express our authentic dance can be a harrowing experience for people. This highly therapeutic process builds emotional intelligence and creative confidence such that people feel good about expressing themselves.

Week 6 - Intention through Kinesiology

Understanding your motive is a key way of knowing whether you are living your life based on spiritual principles. What many addicts don’t appreciate is just how powerful intention really is in shaping our lives and society. The workshop combines various perspectives from biology, noetics and human nature to show people the positive and potentially negative impact of their intention on their environment and personal well being. Through practical exercises using kinesiology the participants will feel how having both positive and negative intentions for themselves and others can literally weaken their nervous system. This experiential learning process is very effective in shaping peoples beliefs about the power of their intentions.

Week 7- Understanding through Giraffe Talk

Communication is such a vital key to personal and relationship development yet through addiction we lose communication skills or have never been given good ones in the first place. Giraffe Talk or NVC has been used in many creative communication process and in conflict resolution. It provides a very simple model that helps addicts to avoid communication that is based around conflict, blame and judgement and promotes objective observation and the expression of feelings and needs.  

Week 8- Action through Improvisation  

 In order to develop our careers, relationship and lifestyles we need to get into action. Action requires confidence, self belief, trust and a willingness to step outside ones comfort zones. This workshop combines various theatre sports and dramatic exercises into a liberating experience where participants drop their inhibitions and have fun expressing themselves. All of the exercises demand a leap of faith, an open mind and a flexibility to just go with the flow and see what happens. People are surprised by their creativity and the sheer potential of a group of people that cross pollinate ideas in an interactive way. The group will feel a little bit closer and motivated that when the time comes for a bold step they have the faith in their ability to make things happen.            

Week 9- Faith through Vision

The vision quest was used by Native American Indians as rites of passage for young adolescents who needed spiritual and vocational guidance. They were sent out into the wilderness to receive a powerful vision that would guide their spiritual direction when returning to the tribe. The world is changing so quickly and people learn more about themselves as time goes by. We have no way of knowing our destiny so all we can do is create powerful intentions that help us to live our values, make a positive contribution to society and to live a principle driven life. This workshop facilitates the creation of a powerful vision that gives the participants the faith needed to face life challenges head on and to continue on the path of recovery.      

Key Benefits

• Expert facilitation from recovered addicts and alcoholics who have a passion for recovery and personal development.
• Enhanced program through unique and valuable processes that are not offered currently at clinics.
• Offers perspectives that help people to see recovery from new angles
• Creates opportunities for people to experience recovery in a fun and creative way. 

Testimonials
Jeremy is a great facilitator! He is enthusiastic, caring, warm and just a wonderful presence to have around!

Cathy, AA

It is nice to see someone doing stuff that is out of the box!

Yori, NA

I really enjoyed being taken out of my comfort zone!

       Eddy, NA