Resilience:
An Actor's Wellbeing
What we cover in workshops
As actors, our new "normal" can be described as VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. We are driven to act, but the realities of life challenge us every day as we balance our passion with the need to pay bills and survive.
Self-doubt can be overwhelming: I can't act; I don't know what I'm doing; I'm wasting my time; everyone seems better than me; I'm stressed out because there is not enough time in the day...
Research shows that all of us experience these thoughts and emotions. They are normal and natural. But if we don't recognise them for what they are, they will consume us and impact on our acting, non-acting work and our families.
There are lots of ways to start to shift these thoughts, become more resilient and boost our wellbeing.
The workshop explores our signature strengths, resilience reflection, anxiety and the impact on our bodies, faulty thinking, self-talk, our reference points, models of wellbeing and positive psychology, mindfulness, the importance of gratitude, our circle of influence and even managing our time to reduce stress.
Over the past 10 years, I have presented resilience and wellbeing seminars at conferences and delivered workshops to dozens of organisations around Australia and across South East Asia. Well over a 1000 people have benefited from these seminars and workshops. The big news is that I have now tailored the program to focus on us: actors.
"I come to every project thinking I don't know anything..."
Meryl Streep
career coaching:
more than just acting
Most actors strike a fine balance between their career as an actor and their day-to-day income generating work. Finding that balance can be anxiety inducing.
The coaching I provide is not about your acting or how you act. The coaching looks at the two interconnected elements of your life: your acting career and your non-acting career. Are they in harmony or are they at odds with each other?
In a coaching session we will explore your non-acting career and how to get the most from your work to complement your acting. If you need to, we can also explore your acting career and how to maximise the impact of your tools - like Casting Networks.
I have spent more than a decade as an accredited career coach, supporting people at all stages of their working life. I have supported people to strike a better balance with their careers, reflect on and articulate their goals, gain confidence, build on their strengths, improve self-awareness, enhance resumes and nail job interviews.
Having returned to acting, I know from experience what it's like to start from a blank sheet of paper. To build an acting portfolio, get credits, build a network and a community, work on scenes, play catch-up in my learning, figure a way through self-tapes and establishing a solid relationship with an agent - and how to balance all this with a day job.
The mechanics: I would usually provide career coaching over two or three sessions (maximum), with up to 45 minutes per session. I recognise that actors have a LOT of expenses already, so I have a "pay what you can model" ranging from "I can't afford to pay this session" through to $70 per session - or any price in between. You chose.
Some of my certification and associations in this area include:
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Associate Certified Coach (ACC): International Coaching Federation
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Fellow: Australian Human Resource Institute
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Certified Stakeholder Centered Coach: Marshall Goldsmith
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Coaching Accreditation Program: Australian Institute of Executive Coaching
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Conflict Mediation Coach: Cinergy model of conflict resolution
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Conflict coaching certification: Conflict Resolution Network
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Certificate IV in Training and Assessment