Kathleen Thometz, iPec Certified Life Coach
I am a mom, small business owner, certified life coach, and NAMI Family Support Group Facilitator. I graduated from Manhattanville College in 1985 with a BA in English Literature and worked in the insurance industry before becoming a stay at home mom. While raising my four kids, I attended art school and earned a BFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012.
I parlayed my years of volunteering for the Art Appreciation program at Field Park Elementary School, into Doodle Art & Design, a lunchtime art business and eventually an art studio. I loved teaching art to kids. I saw how it was a very powerful tool for children to bring their ideas to life using their hands. Art-making gave them respite from their busy and sometimes stressful lives. I became a certified coach because I believed it would help me to be an even better art teacher.
However, once the pandemic hit, I could no longer teach in schools or my small studio, so I chose to close my art business and focus solely on coaching, but with a creative twist.
I’ve pretty much seen it all as a mother of four, and through my volunteer work with NAMI, I’ve met many parents who are struggling with parenting their troubled teens and tweens. I believe that the main reason these kids are struggling with anxiety and depression is because mom and dad have been overparenting them. The effects on both the child, the parents and their relationship, have been devastating. I believe that if parents can commit to teaching their child the skills they need to navigate life, and also stop trying to control their child’s life, everyone will be happier and healthier.
Certification
I am a Certified Professional Coach through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), which required over 150 hours of coursework and hands-on coach training in order to become certified.
