About Dr. Anita Stauffer

WithinVision – the Personal Story

My plan to become a psychologist began in the second grade when I asked my teacher who the woman was that visited our school two afternoons a week. She told me she was a person who helped kids by talking to them about what was important to them. Although I almost decided to become a professional violinist, I returned to my intention by undergraduate school, and it was the right choice. I care passionately about this work because I know that my talks and meetings have made a difference for people.

My first opportunity as a psychologist was to work in an academic medical center. I remember the elation I felt the day I walked into Northwestern University Medical School and Hospital as clinical faculty in a specialty clinic for medically fragile children. I learned about the pain people face when life requires more of them than they had planned, and solidified a lifetime commitment to human growth and development.

Ten years later, I joined a mental health practice so that I could eliminate a 30 mile commute. (Yes, life was still a juggle.) I learned more about the about the complexities of managing work and family. No one seemed to feel that they measured up to the requirements of their roles, and the consequences showed up in their accomplishments, confidence, and physical and relational health.

People seemed to be spending more time at work and stress, burnout and role strain were increasing. I decided to learn about the workplace. It seemed clear that thoughtful, confident and diverse leadership could benefit all stakeholders – from the boardroom to the team at home.

High functioning leaders and their work families are crucial to both the economic and moral health of our culture. And so, I founded WithinVision in 2006.

Within a couple years, I got a call from a CEO who wanted to examine his leadership. He wanted to be a create a culture that served women, men, children and stakeholders. He was clearly interested in moral leadership and healthy relationships. I couldn’t believe what I heard, and almost refused the request in a moment of “imposter syndrome”. This partnership expanded my work to the C-Suite, and the long-term determination to support leadership growth and transformation in personal and professional life.

As a consulting psychologist, I bring a background of twenty years of experience in clinical and systems psychology to my work in executive coaching, leadership development, team building and organizational consulting.

I’ve partnered with clients to address aspirations and challenges of many types – to develop the leadership presence that results in promotion, to design new organizational directions, to cultivate the workplace relationships crucial to high performing teams, to make succession decisions, to communicate in ways that build followership, to create the disciplines necessary for better health, and to specify the life’s work that is most meaningful and purposeful.

Training as both a coach and a clinical psychologist puts me in a unique position to support clients in addressing what matters most, reaching performance goals and managing the personal goals and barriers that may not show up clearly in conscious awareness. I am a licensed clinical psychologist who received my doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky, my internship at IJR at the University of Illinois Medical Center, and my Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University Medical School.

Coaching and team development work has dominated my work at WithinVision for 15 years. My clients come from a variety of industries including finance, commercial real estate, health care, and more. I integrate my advanced training in mindfulness practices into individual and team coaching as requested.

Chicago is home base for my work, and family. Born in Brooklyn and growing up on Long Island created a love for an urban lifestyle, although I seek opportunities to get into nature whenever I can. Until recently, life has been about parenting our now adult daughters who are impressive adults in their own right, and trying to juggle two careers. I’ve been lucky to be married to a man who has fully supported my professional aspirations. I also owe a lot to an incredible sequence of teachers, mentors and coaches. Miraculously, we all live in Chicago now, including three grandchildren. We cook and eat together a lot, attend quite a few little league baseball games and of course, try hard to keep “loose knees” to traverse the unexpected.

I look forward to helping clients generate excesses of inspiration and creativity, cultivate the work that they are most whole-hearted about, and grow continuously to realize the best of their capabilities.

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