About Kathleen
Kathleen Johnston, PHEc, MA is a coach and psychotherapist with expertise in career development.
She supports clients as they strive to integrate their paid work and personal lives.
Kathleen knows first hand the complexity of being accountable for strategic direction, policy development, and growth objectives while juggling important personal priorities and obligations.
During her tenure as an executive, Kathleen's work in the charitable sector included creating innovative services for the marginalized and disadvantaged. In Kathleen’s words, “being involved in mission-driven work feeds the soul in many ways. It can be like an elixir to devoted and hardworking people motivated by service, however, the risk is that it can also become a journey to burnout."
Observing elevated stress and burnout in those around her, not to mention nearly succumbing to it herself, prompted a major career shift. Kathleen became determined to find a way to support others by helping them realize greater work satisfaction without sacrificing personal health and well-being.
Kathleen was recently interviewed by Avenue magazine in Edmonton, Alberta.
A lifelong learner, Kathleen is a Professional Certified Coach (International Coach Federation),a Canadian Certified Counsellor (Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy Association), a Certified Stress Consultant (Canadian Institute of Stress) and a Professional Home Economist (Alberta Human Ecology and Home Economics Association).
A Special Interest in Women's Careers
From many years of enduring a “pressure cooker” career, Kathleen brings her personal wisdom and insight into the challenges faced by women with demanding careers.
Kathleen defines "career" as being inclusive of one's paid and unpaid life roles. Through this definition, comes recognition of the significant contribution made by women for all of their life's work. Kathleen's vision is for every woman to have the freedom and opportunity to live and work to her full potential.
Fulfilling her dream of helping women experience greater career wellbeing required time, energy, and devotion. Accordingly, Kathleen resigned her senior management role in December 2000 to undertake a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling and Psychology. Research for her thesis project involved interviewing and understanding the complex career journeys of 8 high achieving Alberta women, each one at the pinnacle of her professional journey. Their stories have been published in her book/journal Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: A Woman's Career Legacy.
These women's stories of perseverance, wisdom, values and courage strengthened Kathleen's passion for supporting women's potential. Her research led to professional work dedicated to helping ordinary women create uniquely meaningful and satisfying career journeys.