Word Sauce

Next course starts October 2009!

Join me to:

• establish a regular creative practice that can support you and nurture you as you move through your life.
• work through particular life or health challenges in a supportive environment.
• kick-start your own innate creativity.
• let go of stress, tension or any limiting beliefs that may have been holding you back.
• (re)connect with your body in positive and progressive ways.
• learn new ways to find your flow and develop your creativity.

People join the Word Sauce Online Programme for all these reasons and more. Hear Sophie talk about her Online Programme and find out if it is right for you:

This is what past participants of the Programme are saying about their experiences:

“As a clinical hypnotherapist and former professional writer, I thought I knew what to expect from Sophie’s course, and enrolled thinking that it might help me get back into writing for pleasure as a creative pursuit, or that it would help me with my hypnotic writing skills.  Somehow, though, during the class I made connections to the deepest parts of myself that I hadn’t been acknowledging.  Not only did I learn to write better and more creatively, but this course also really freed me to be much more open with myself, and I have learned more than can be expressed, with far-reaching benefits into just about every area of my life.

Sophie gave us a nurturing, open, and vibrant space in which to explore, make friends, grow, and be inspired and stretched in ways I couldn’t have ever imagined.  I am absolutely thrilled at the prospect of continuing everything I’ve learned and experienced through her program.  It truly was a life-changing experience!”

Eric Carr, Tucson, AZ USA

“I was surprised, but in a good way, how the aims and assignments of the course unfolded around me and challenged me as a writer and as a person. I learnt how to feel successful writing and not so preoccupied with the final product. It turns out that this focus works to enhance my final products anyway! The best part of all is that I’ve actually taken some of these writing lessons into my life!”

Lyndia Peters, Canada

“This course has taken me on an amazing journey of adventure and understanding.   Sophie’s gentle touch has guided me through wonderful new territories of language and self-discovery.  Her encouragement and perception have pointed out signposts along the way, her wisdom with words and writing helping me forge new paths in my life. Sharing ideas and writing with the other participants has been a key element and the positive nature of their responses has been a true measure of the deep level of our communication.”

Mary Potter, Bournemouth

Writing, health and well-being

When I began my doctoral research at the University of Sussex into writing and health care, very few people had even heard of the ways that writing can help healing.

Today, I am happy to say that more and more health practitioners now understand the importance of mind-body medicine and the powerful role that writing can play in this area. Fields such as psychoneuroimmunology are developing ways of understanding how our psychological health affects our physical well being.

Some of the people I have worked with over the years have found themselves suddenly writing in response to a physical or psychological health challenge. They find it useful to get their feelings about what is happening to them out onto the page.  In fact, there has been considerable research into the benefits of this ‘expressive writing’ and you can read about a paper here in which I summarise these findings and propose new ideas for research in this area.

If you are thinking about writing or feel that writing may be helpful for you with regard to a particular challenge in your life, please do get in touch and I will be happy to advise you about whether this Online Programme might be helpful to you and how I can offer you support and guidance about how to take this further.

Writing and personal creativity

There is a very big myth about creativity that it is something that happens to you through mysterious flashes of inspiration. And yet the great creative people of our time have arrived at their achievements through regular, consistent creative practice.

I have spent the last ten years researching creativity and designing courses and techniques that help people to tap into their own rich well-spring of new ideas, energy and confidence. I am convinced that we are all creative and that our creativity can be develped through regular practise.

When we understand how to use our own resources in helpful ways -  and then take regular consistent action - we can enjoy consistent feelings of productivity, energy and creativity .

What does the Online Programme actually do?

The Word Sauce Online Programme will help you to develop a regular creative practice that will enable you to nurture yourself, to let go of stress and tension, to explore personal themes and patterns from your life or to identify and then build upon your own unique strengths and talents.

It provides a fun and supportive workshop environment where you can learn with me and your fellow course participants - flexibly, at your own pace and in your own way according to your available time and circumstances.

Who can benefit from this Programme?

Over the last few years, I have worked with hundreds of people to help them to use writing to discover what is actually possible for them in their personal and professional lives.

I have worked with people who have suffered depression and anxiety, exhaustion and ‘burn out’ and helped them to rediscover their personal source of pleasure, energy and contentment.

I have worked with therapists, GPs and other health care professionals to enable them to understand how to use writing to nurture themselves and their patients.

My creative writing work with survivors of torture has been featured in the national media.

I have worked with people in business and educational organisations, writers, artists, musicians, actors, designers, and entrepreneurs; and I have designed courses in creativity and creative writing for the universities of Sussex, Leeds and York.

I designed this Online Programme because I wanted to make available to you the materials and ideas that, previously, have only been available to participants in my seminars, my private clients and students on my university courses. I wanted to make sure that you could get access to these techniques, wherever you are in the world and whatever your schedule. And so here they are!

When you join the Programme, you can enjoy the video content, explore the course materials and reading lists, experiment with the weekly writing exercises and discuss your experiences of writing with me and with your fellow participants in the forums. You will receive individual guidance and feedback from me at every stage - both in the forums and workshops and by private email. If all participants agree, we will also have a number of calls during the progamme where we can share our thoughts and reflections with one another.

You will learn what works for you in terms of nurturing your own skills, ablities and writing practice and how to build these techniques into your daily life.

Read more about the course content here.

A Programme for both new and experienced writers

Let me emphasise here that this course is not only for those already interested or experienced in writing. The techniques and materials are designed to be helpful for anyone who is interested in exploring their own development and well-being and anyone who is interested in (re)discovering the sense of joy and meaning that is the foundation of our psychological and physical well-being.

Join the six-month course for £299.

The next course is scheduled to begin in October 2009 and there are still a few places left.

What you receive for £299:

• Exclusive video and written content.
• A supportive and easy-to-use online environment using the same software technologies as those used and tested by the Open University.
• Individual feedback from a skilled and experienced tutor who has pioneered research and work in this area.
• Lots of opportunity to share your experiences with like-minded people and learn from their feedback and ideas.

Plus a free copy of my eBook, Hypnotic Journaling!

The course fee represents six months’ of discussion, participation and workshopping in a unique online environment, monthly private individual feedback on your written work from Sophie, plus regular feedback from Sophie and your fellow participants as part of the workshop and discussion forums. It includes specially produced video content, reading lists for each module, exclusive materials – writing prompts, exercises and inspiring module overviews – all produced especially for the programme.

Click here if you’d like to review the Programme content before you apply

Click here to apply for the Programme

Alternatively, you may prefer to send me an email at sophie@sophienicholls.com or call me on +44 (0) 781 260 6350 if you would like to discuss the Programme and your interests in further detail before you decide if this is the right course for you.