Hi there! I coach actors toward integrating this truth into their work:
you are enough.
Looking for my acting work?
What I mean when I say ‘you are enough’:
I mean that YOU, in your wholeness, with your voice, and your skin, and your accent, and your body, culture, energy, learning needs, (dis)abilities, boundaries, values, and so forth – YOU are adequate to the task of living a creative life that is fulfilling, nourishing, sustainable, and joyful.
Everything that you are, is everything that you need. Period.
Hi! I’m Caitlin, your Creative Resiliency Coach & Career Strategist.
My mission is to radically transform how we teach and build creative professions, and to help you find significant fulfillment, sustainability, and joy in your creative livelihood.
Whether you consider yourself to be a teacher or a creative (or both!), I want to help you de-thread the self-sacrificing, hustle-and-grind narrative perpetuated by our culture, and re-weave a creative life which centers your rest, your vitality, and your wholeness.
>> I help actors revitalize their craft.
>> I help educators re-imagine their curriculum.
>> I help creatives reinvigorate their careers.
Sound good? Okay! Let’s play.
Offerings:
1-on-1 sessions with actors and creatives.
Duo sessions with actors.
You + a friend work on your monologues in a 90-minute session.
1-on-1 sessions with arts educators.
Workshops, restshops & classes.
My work restores the connection between your soul and your creative spark and teaches you how to run electricity through that pattern again and again.
You are a creative changemaker.
You want to create, or possibly facilitate, work that is bold and beautiful, authentic and arresting, but most of all: meaningful. You want your work to have impact, whether you’re acting, creating, or teaching (maybe all three, you saucy multi-hyphenate, you!).
And you’d also like to have a life, thank you very much. You want to be rested and resilient, communal and courageous, because you know that your wellbeing matters if you’re going to do this thing long-term.
It doesn’t seem like that much to ask: that you could have a satisfying creative career and receive enough reward for it (financial and otherwise) to sustain a wholesome livelihood. And yet. You know it’s not that simple.
Somewhere in the process of cultivating the creative changemaker path, we can get disconnected from ourselves. Burned out, lost, confused, directionless, hopeless, numb – the joy we used to reap from our work so readily is suddenly a lot harder to reach.
I know this because I’m a creative changemaker, like you, and I’ve been through this disconnection process over and over again. But I’m not here to teach you how I revitalize my creative work – after all, that’s what works for me, and what works for me won’t necessarily work for you.
Why not? Because I would never ask you to change who you are to try to fit a solution that works for me and my particular identities, but may not fit yours.
Instead, I’m here as your co-conspirator, offering you a variety of methods to choose from, and together we will unearth your unique process for bringing life back to your creative magic.
“I am immensely grateful for Caitlin’s mentorship, and for her seemingly endless patience, grace, presence, and space…They are incredibly attentive and resourceful, as well as a valuable source of not only support, but also authentic realism…As a fairly neurospicy, BIPOC, and Queer young performing and teaching artist, it has been very difficult to find a mentor who I can trust to prepare me to become the best possible version of an artist I could be.”
– Tiara Primus, Arts Educator & Actor
What if burnout isn’t actually the problem?
Creative changemakers can experience a lot of burnout. And when we do, it’s easy to blame ourselves and our busy schedules. We might point to perfectionist tendencies, or overworking, but that’s not the whole picture.
Burnout is a perfectly understandable reaction to a culture obsessed with productivity. In creative fields, this cultural message gets amplified by scarcity narratives like the show must go on, or there’s not enough jobs so work harder than everyone else, or there’s 20 people who would kill to have your job, so prove that you deserve to be here. Sound familiar?
While we can’t overturn the culture in a day (ohhh how I wish we could), we can choose how we respond to it. Together, we can reveal the cultural narratives that have embedded themselves in your creative process, or in your curriculum, and we can transform your craft into an intentional, values-driven practice designed to create the impact you want to make.
Coaching available online or in-person.
Payment plans available at no extra cost.
Cultivate a joyful, sustainable creative practice.
ACTORS:
While we work through any of the services I offer below, I help you build your ability to do this work in a long-term, life-giving capacity (less burnout, more joy!). I focus on developing your process rather than shaping a particular product. So that one day, you don’t need me anymore: You’ve got a compassionate, custom process that works for you. 🙂
I help actors with:
>> Auditions.
>> Shakespeare.
>> Text analysis.
>> Perfectionism & imposter syndrome.
>> Burnout & creative resiliency.
>> Career vision & goal setting.
You are always at the center of our work together. I adapt exercises to be culturally competent and neurodivergent-friendly, and am continuously developing new approaches to meet the needs of the students in front of me. As we work, you will hear me name the lineages of the work I’m drawing from.
Together, we will co-create your how: how do you approach auditions? How do you approach Shakespeare? How do you navigate creative burnout? The result is a sustainable, tailored creative process that works because YOU built it.
I offer one-on-one sessions, duo sessions, workshops, and classes. You can find my in-person class offerings at The Actors Conservatory in Portland, OR.
When you work with me you get someone who is:
- Actively working in the industry
- Has 11+ years of professional experience
- Is a faculty member at The Actors Conservatory
- Working with and creating contemporary methodologies
- Trained in intimacy/consent and Mental Health First Aid
- Holds an MFA in Actor Training & Coaching from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London
Recent workshops & classes have included:
- Resound NW: A place to sing
- University of Portland
- Lewis & Clark University
- Oregon Thespians State Festival
- The Actors Conservatory
- Rose Bruford College (London, UK)
- The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama
High School & College Actor Coaching
I love working with high school and college students! I’m a regular teaching artist at Tigard High School, Rose Bruford College, and others, as well as a faculty member at The Actors Conservatory where I teach college-aged and adult actors.
If you’ve got an upcoming audition for a school play, or for colleges and universities, I’d be happy to help you get prepared. Auditions can be both nerve-wracking and exciting! 1-on-1 or duo sessions with me can help you:
- Choose audition pieces you love
- Find clarity, fun, and power in Shakespeare
- Boost your confidence
- Find physical ease in your work
- Use anchors (like your breath) to stay connected to the present moment
- Create a pre- and post-audition routine that warms your body, relaxes your voice, and centers self-compassion.
I also offer group classes and workshops. Visit my workshops page or contact me to learn more about my offerings for high schools, colleges, universities, and other arts institutions.
ARTS EDUCATORS:
You believe that arts education is powerful (yes!), and that your work has the capacity to – yes, I’ll say it – change the world. You want to create an educational environment that is inclusive, accessible, rigorous, and joyful. But boy howdy, the number of scarcities you face on a daily basis – not enough time, not enough resources, and sometimes, not enough self-trust – can make that dream feel impossible some days.
Even so, you’re hustling to create the best student-centered creative education that you’re capable of. But pause with me for a moment. Because what about you?
>> How are you cultivating resiliency in your teaching practice?
>> Alongside your generous work ethic, are you also practicing a self-nourishing rest ethic?
I am a creative resiliency coach and facilitator. That means that my client is the gap that can emerge between your (outstanding!) teaching practice and your ability to thrive and be nourished by it long-term. As an arts educator, leader, and former artistic/managing director, I know first-hand how that gap gets created, the sources that contribute to it, and how we can start to repair it.
Want to see my work in action? Sign up for my email newsletter and you’ll get my free, 30-minute webinar, “Revitalized! A Guide to Burnout for the Visionary Educator”.
I offer one-on-one sessions, webinars, and workshops. Contact me to learn more about my offerings for arts educators.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a duo session? What does it cost?
How much do one-on-one sessions with you cost?
Your work sort of sounds like therapy. Is it therapy?
>> Anything I ask you to do is an invitation, and you can RSVP yes or RSVP no. I repeat this language frequently, and I create back-up plans in case of an RSVP ‘no’.
>> I acknowledge that in my role as your coach, I hold power in the space. I carry awareness of this and the ways in which that power can affect consent and decision-making.
>> My attention stays on the relationship between you and your creative practice or pedagogy; all of our work together is aimed toward you being able to do your best possible creative work.
>> I will always check in with you at the top of sessions before diving in.
If we reach a boundary where it feels like I have taken on the role of a therapist, I will pause our work and re-orient us. Please also feel free to do the same.
What do you offer that's free?
I also offer free webinars occasionally, like “Revitalized: A Guide to Burnout for the Visionary Educator.” Keep an eye on my emails and social media for those announcements.
Pricing
🌻 1.5 hr one-on-one sessions with me are $75.
🌻 1.5 hr duo sessions with me are $75.
✨ I offer payment plans at no additional cost. Contact me to set one up.
✨ Every month I offer 2 free coaching sessions on a first-come, first-served basis. Join my email list or follow me on social media for those announcements.
🌱 Contact me for workshop pricing.
A Bit About Me
Hi, I’m Caitlin, pronouns she/her and they/them. I’m a teacher and an artist, gathering wisdom on how we can build nourishing, sustainable creative lives in the midst of a white supremecist capitalist patriarchy.
I’m a white, queer, American theatre educator and practitioner, as well as the co-founder and Artistic Managing Director of Enso Theatre Ensemble based out of Portland, Oregon. I’ve taught, directed, and performed with a variety of companies in the U.S., including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Ashland New Plays Festival, Third Rail Mentorship Company, and Enso Theatre Ensemble.
I'm back in the U.S. after completing my MFA in Actor Training and Coaching at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While there, I researched socio-cultural contributors to student burnout in actor training, focusing on scarcity mindset and the Human Giver Syndrome framework, as articulated by Kate Manne and Emily and Amelia Nagoski. I argued for the integration of a 'love ethic' in higher education actor training as one possible response to the pervasiveness of student burnout. I also taught devising and resiliency skills to B.A. acting students as part of a class called 'Performing the Self' at Rose Bruford College.
My work intentionally straddles the boundary between creativity as an art form, and creativity as a therapeutic practice. Supporting my ability to traverse this boundary with care and responsibility is my 10+ year mindfulness practice. This includes years of self-study, as well as a 6-month yoga teacher training at Yoga Refuge, and the Mindfulness for Youth-Serving Professionals course with Peace in Schools. I also hold a certificate in Mental Health First Aid.
Outside the theatre, I'm an avid lover of table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, tea drinking, ritual, and history, and enjoy long walks through the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
CONTACT
I work and live on the unceded lands of the Clackamas people, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people, known by its colonial name of Portland, OR.
© 2022 Caitlin Lushington
Rest & Love in Creative Living
Let's chat! In this email "newsletter," I respond to your questions on finding sustainability and creative fulfillment in our wild and challenging industry. I'll also send along stories, musings, and other bits of inspiration. Submit your questions to caitlinlushington@gmail.com.