Creative Facilitator Training (Hybrid)
IMMERSION WEEK
Monday, June 21-Saturday, June 26, 2027 | Story Parlor (227 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC)
VIRTUAL MEETINGS Tuesdays, July 6- September 28, 2026 from 6:15-9:00pm EST | ZOOM
Cost: $2,850 Early Bird (through March 31, 2026) / $3,250 Regular (April 1, 2026 onward)
Inward & Artward presents: an immersive training on how to create and facilitate unique offerings rooted in the intersection of the creative process, personal stories, and the human condition. Tailored for folks interested in starting a new and fulfilling career path, or simply wanting to deepen and/or refresh their approach to holistic creative facilitation.
This is an experiential, interactive training designed to equip students with the tools to create inspiring content, shepherd artists through their unique and collective journeys, and cultivate a dynamic creative community. Along with developing creativity-based facilitation strategies and tools, participants will tend to their individual creative practices, as well as building self awareness, personal presence, and confidence with delivering content to groups.
Completion will include a certification badge, opportunities to participate and teach within the I&A community, and ongoing support through the Creative Facilitator Collective.
Before registering, prospective participants must first submit the above application.
Next steps will be provided thereafter.
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Guideposts Include:
A thorough exploration of the psychology of creativity, and how to facilitate varying stages of the creative process
Identifying creative blocks, obstacles, and breakthrough strategies for self and others
How to create and conduct creative-based groups, workshops, classes, and retreats
Facilitation philosophies, ethics, and considerations surrounding creative citizenship
The intersection of mindfulness and the creative process, and how to implement into facilitation
Practices to cultivate a sustainable creative lifestyle — personally, professionally, and instructionally
Tools to excavate personal stories and ways they can be used for healing, transformation, and creative bounty
Marketing, business planning, and logistics
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Participants are responsible for securing their own travel and accommodations during the training’s Immersion Week. The Asheville Regional Airport is about a 25 minute drive from Story Parlor (located in West Asheville at 227 Haywood Road), and there are numerous hotel and short-term rental options in the city.
We will be meeting daily from Monday, June 21-Saturday, June 26 from 9am-5pm. A detailed schedule for each immersion day will be released a couple weeks in advance and will include some evening excursions around town. Aside from a couple select meals, participants are responsible for providing their own lunches. Story Parlor has a fridge and small kitchenette on site, along with numerous restaurants and cafes within walking distance.
Once accepted into the program, please notify us of any special accommodations required in advance.
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Is this for creatives hailing from any medium/background?
The training is designed to provide a foundation for creative facilitation of all kinds rooted in a deep understanding of the universal elements of the creative process, with the goal of delivering hands-on curriculum which embraces mindfulness and momentum, while also cultivating an environment that is encouraging, supportive, and inspirational.Open to new and experienced facilitators, artists, teachers, coaches, social service professionals, counselors, and more, this training is dedicated to delivering strategies for fostering a brave space that allows people to take creative risks, while simultaneously instilling confidence in their own creativity and ability to be an engaging facilitator.
How much work should I expect to do between classes?
Between each meeting, participants will be asked to:
Read approximately 10-20 pages of topic-related resources, along with viewing assigned videos (usually about 15-20 minutes in length).
Respond to short prompts on google classroom.
Work on/tend to a monthly creative assignment (this ranges from simple creative practice adoptions, to monitoring self-coaching techniques, to ongoing curriculum development).
I’m not interested in the certification. Can I just audit the classes?
This program is designed for the purpose of achieving certification, providing participants with comprehensive training and hands-on experience necessary to become certified creative facilitators. As such, it is not intended for auditing or casual participation. Full engagement and attendance are required to ensure that all participants gain the maximum benefit from the program.
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ERIN HALLAGAN CLARE
Erin Hallagan Clare is the founder of Story Parlor, a narrative arts space based in Asheville, NC, and (as of the fall of 2025) co-owner of the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar. Launched in 2015 (formerly known as “Story Bar”), Story Parlor offers community-driven events and workshops designed to bring audiences and artists together through the universal language of creativity and story. Erin is the founder of the Inward & Artward School of Creativity, a sister project to Story Parlor, which offers global classes, trainings, and resources that invite participants to reclaim creativity as an essential part of how they live, reflect, and make.
Erin is currently pursuing her PhD in Creativity at Rowan University where her dissertation is focused on the ontology of story and creativity. She studied film and theatre at Temple University, and earned her Masters in Psychology with a Creativity Studies specialization, with her thesis focused on creative facilitation. She holds graduate certificates from Pacifica University in Applied Mythology and the Narrative Psychology of Fairy Tales and certifications as a creativity coach (Kaizen-Muse and advanced training with Dr. Eric Maisel), an Enneagram practitioner (Narrative Enneagram and Integrative 9), and yoga instructor (Yoga Alliance with over 450 hours in training). Prior to these projects, Erin served as the Creative Director of the Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference (where she currently remains on the board), in addition to producing the PBS and PRX-affiliated project, On Story, for which she received a Lone Star Emmy for Best Arts/Entertainment Program in 2014.
A writer and storyteller, Erin regularly teaches creativity and personal mythology workshops at both Story Parlor and the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNCA. She has shared stories and written work at The Moth, Listen to This, NC Writers Network, The Great Smokies Writing Program, Jazz Hybrid, Testify, One Page Salon, and is a Moth Story Slam Champion. Her writing can be found in Psychology Today, Thrive Global, and others, and she is a contributing author to The Coach’s Guide to Completing Creative Work published by Routledge.
Erin believes everyone has a story to tell, and that we are all creative. She is dedicated to making a difference through the transformative power of the arts.
>> You can watch Erin’s Creative Mornings talk on “Parallel” here.
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“The Creative Facilitator Training has changed my life, mainly by changing my understanding of creativity and by building my confidence as a capable facilitator. The wide selection of research-backed and primary-source resources were a delight for a nerd like me, offering insight to cultivate a healthier perspective and specific tools to care for my own creative spirit. The assignments helped me to slowly dip my feet into the facilitation waters, building my confidence on small wins that get bigger and bigger until I realized I can actually do this! In the end, I came to understand creativity and facilitation through a more holistic lens. I feel validated as a leader now, having both studied and experienced firsthand how excellent leadership is not ego-driven, hierarchical or patriarchal, but in fact a way of being that de-colonizes our systems while empowering others to be their own best guides. I went into this training hoping to find a viable career path as a creative professional, after years of feeling hopeless and lost. I should have done it last year instead of hesitating! If you're like me and think you should have all the masters degrees and fancy qualifications first, the truth is, this training will actually help you to see and genuinely believe in the value you already have. If I could say one thing to the version of me from before CFT, it would be, "DO IT! Make the choice to value the potential of the unknown more than your fear. It will transform you to be ready to wield your power."“
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“The Creative Facilitator Training at Story Parlor changed my life. It was truly one of the best things I have ever done. It has enriched my professional and personal life in more ways than I could have ever expected. I don't say this lightly, or heap this kind of praise on everything I do. I just really feel that I experienced an incredible teacher with a powerful curriculum and a gift for sharing her deep insight and practice in a way that teaches participants how to bring out the creative talent that lives in themselves and others. It's magical!”
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“Erin brought a balance of nurturing and empowerment to facilitation training. She created a space that was both structured and expansive — one where I could meet my edges and reframe fear as a form of undeveloped excitement to be used as fuel for creative exploration.
Her deceptively precise approach is grounded in deep research and lived experience, supporting real shifts in mindset and practice. Erin’s respect for the creative process is contagious. She has a quiet ability to spot self sabotage — and gently guide one through it.
I left this training more grounded in my creative voice and more confident in holding space for others. I gained a very generous repertoire of tools and techniques as well as a deeper sense of how creative energy moves — and how to meet it with integrity. “ - V.L.
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“The CFT is a carefully-designed program led by an expert in creative facilitation. Participants learn, in supported step-wise fashion, about the psychology of creativity, strategies for overcoming blocks, how to use personal storytelling in creativity, and how to design and deliver impactful facilitated offerings. Students learn through experiential and didactic methods, and by contributing to group synergy. The result is not only confidence in one’s own facilitation abilities, but also enhanced understanding of the creative process and even personal self-awareness.”
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“Erin has blown my mind with her Creative Facilitator Course! I have come to expect great things from taking other workshops with her, but this has been on another level! I have laughed, cried, created and shared deeply with a group of people that I barely know. I now feel permanently bonded to each of them and endlessly inspired by what they are choosing to create. Few experiences in my life have felt so powerfully moving. This training has pushed me to explore my inner creative landscape to such depth that I understand my life through an entirely new lens. It feels like giant wheels have been unblocked and set into motion individually and collectively for everyone that participated and I can't wait to see where the ride will take us!” - Torin K.
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“This training offered so much more than I thought I was signing up for. Wether we were uncovering creative blocks or addressing overwhelm, each week brought a clearer understanding to my project but more importantly, to myself. Erin's gentle and welcoming disposition was addictive and her selflessness of sharing valuable information was never ending. I feel entirely prepared to host my workshop and have been able to challenge many fears that kept me from moving forward. Not to mention, I have made some lasting connections to my circle and The Story Parlor community!” - Sofia N.
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”The Creative Facilitator Training was a gentle but deep rub that freed the genie from the lamp inside my storyteller's heart. I am now empowered in my own art to not only have the career I've wished for, but to mentor others in seeing their wishes come true; like a wish for more wishes. It was simply magic." - Lyon B.
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”If you have been seeking more formal training in the art of facilitation, even if you have experience as a facilitator already, this experience is highly recommended. You have a splendid opportunity to learn through a variety of readings and videos created by other facilitators, collaboration with classmates, and build skills in presenting and holding space. You also learn so much about creativity itself and in the process grapple with and even win over perfectionism and other barriers. The curriculum is well organized, and the assignments present just enough challenge to encourage growth and further exploration. Erin really knows her stuff and genuinely cares about what is important to you in your own growth and exploration. I have pushed the envelope and stepped outside the comfort zone, and Erin's instruction and the support of classmates has made this learning a very worthwhile adventure!” - Ellane C.
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“The care and intentionality infused in the course—the material, its delivery, and its unfolding—made way for risk-taking, giving and receiving encouragement, and discovery. An all-around engaging experience for anyone who wants to expand their creative practice and learn how to invite others into the healing and joy of meaning-making.” - Natalie C.
”I learned a tremendous amount of new and very useful information about creativity, facilitation, and personal mythology in the Creative Facilitator Training course. The educational material, group experiential aspects of the course, and Erin’s expert modeling of all she teaches about facilitation, has built my confidence and understanding of impactful facilitation and I now have a complete workshop curriculum to offer in the upcoming months!” - Amy A.
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“This is so much more than a training to become a creative facilitator. It's really a path to life-changing transformation for yourself and others! It will challenge you and open you up to sides of yourself that you might normally avoid. In doing so, it will give you skills and insights into how you can help yourself and others nurture creative endeavors. It's a recipe for creating powerful magic!”
Facilitated by: Erin Hallagan Clare (I&A Founder)