Kim Olver

Kim graduated from Honesdale High School and then went on to study psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, Kim got a job at Step-by-Step, a residential program created to help those diagnosed with schizophrenia through the deinstitutionalization process, as well as others with mental health diagnoses, who required support to live successfully in the community. After five years there, she found a different job with a specialized foster care agency, where Kim stayed 17 years. She began as a case manager and soon became a supervisor, then a regional director, assistant executive director and ended her time there as their first Director of Training & Development. It was this job that allowed Kim to study William Glasser’s work, get certified in Choice Theory, become a Glasser trainer and finally, get her master’s degree in counseling from the University of Scranton in 1996.
After her children graduated and began their own lives, Kim left rural life and moved to Chicago where she opened a coaching practice. She also began doing public speaking, training, and consulting and never looked back.
On the personal side, Kim got married in 1983 to Dave Olver, and then, they had two sons, Dave, Jr. in 1984 and Kyle in 1985. Her husband was diagnosed with leukemia in 1994 and unfortunately, died on June 22, 1999.

Kim and her husband started with traditional parenting roles at the time, with Dave being the strict disciplinarian and Kim being the easygoing mom. However, Kim knew she wouldn’t make a good single parent to her boys by continuing as the easygoing parent, nor did she want to become a strict disciplinarian. After fumbling for a while, she decided to apply what she knew about Choice Theory psychology to her parenting role. Kim knows she didn’t get it all right, but Choice Theory was the saving grace that helped her raise honest, happy and successful sons. Because of her parenting experiences, Kim wanted to help other parents. She wrote an eBook titled, Empowerment Parenting and created a 25-hour parenting curriculum for court-mandated parents with the same name.

In 2020, Kim created the psychoeducational process called Mental Freedom to help people give up their self-created misery in just six sessions. She currently uses this process with individuals, groups and couples with phenomenal results. Early research is supporting its efficacy. Sign up for the Mental Freedom Experience now.