While teaching and psychology may be two distinct fields, they share something important: they are a way to help others. According to junior Chloe de Villiers, this idea is what sparked her interest in psychology. At only 16 years old, de Villiers has earned her certification as a Positive Psychology coach, being the youngest to ever graduate from the Positive Psychology Coaching Academy, where students are typically in their 30s and 40s. Now that she is certified, de Villiers wants to use her experience as a way to make a difference in her community.
“I’ve always loved helping others. I find a lot of meaning in it because not only are you benefiting or changing someone else’s lives, but you feel satisfied after,” de Villiers said.
Now that she has been trained, de Villiers wants to start off by offering staff at Redondo with a wellness opportunity through the program she is working on, Positivity in Action. Though she is able to start charging for her services, de Villiers believes that showing gratitude towards her community is more important.
“I’m doing this as a way to give back to the community. I believe that if teachers are experiencing better positive emotions or if they’re more engaged in their work, then their ripple effect really happens and students can feel everything,” de Villiers said. “I hope to help teachers first, and I want to see the impact that I can make within my school community.”
Through her mother, de Villiers was able to meet the founder of the Positive Psychology Coaching Academy, Niyc Pidgeon, a triple certified business coach and award winning Positive Psychologist and author. According to de Villiers, it was her efforts and persistence that allowed her to have the opportunity to be coached by Pidgeon and earn her certification.
“My mom wouldn’t give me a direct connection to her because she had to work for all her connections and she believed that I had to work for all of mine. The only thing that she did offer to me was that I could be a plus one to Niyc’s birthday party, and if I made a good enough impression, then I could offer it myself,” de Villiers said.
In the program, participants across the United States and the United Kingdom would meet with Pidgeon online during the week and then use their own time to focus on homework. Along with that, students in the academy would get paired with each other to practice coaching one another.
For de Villiers, balancing the many hours of work she had to do in the program along with her rigorous schedule at school proved to be a challenge in her journey to get certified. That being said, de Villiers continued to persevere through the late nights and busy afternoons, determined to achieve her goals.
“I love challenging things, and it makes me feel more accomplished when I get them done,” de Villiers said. “I’d even have to schedule so many zoom meetings during school hours. I sat in the library or in the Nest for hours on Zoom meetings.”
In her time coaching de Villiers, Pidgeon could clearly see the effort and dedication that she had put into receiving her certification as a Positive Psychology coach. Unlike anybody else in the program, de Villiers was balancing her student life with her work in the academy, making her stand out to the group she worked with.
“[Chloe] really impressed not just me but other students in the program. While she was studying to become a positive psychology coach, she was taking her finals at the same time. To see someone show that much discipline and not complain once, she managed to balance it all, and she did a really, really good job.” Pidgeon said.
Being so young and already having experience in the field of positive psychology, de Villiers is prepared to continue her journey. According to Pidgeon, she was amazed by how “articulate, smart, and how great of a communicator” de Villiers is.
“The certification is already going to stand her apart and get her ahead. As well as that, she really shows up for other people. If you think about the positive impact of her being trained, then also her going to work with clients, that’s a really big positive ripple effect that she’s able to have in the world,” Pidgeon said.
De Villiers’ certification is only the beginning of her journey. Combining her love for helping others and her passion for sports, de Villiers aims to become an National Football League Sports Psychologist.
“I think that the mental aspect and mental challenges are often looked over in sports. It’s like, ‘Did you warm up for this game?’ or ‘How is your body feeling?’ But if your mind isn’t there, you’re not going to perform to your standard that you set for yourself,” de Villiers said. “I’m so curious about how I could help athletes perform better if I can help them mentally perform better.”
Besides her certification, de Villiers was able to take away many insights from her time in the academy.
“In our program, we learned so much, and so many tiny, practical tools that you can integrate into your life so that you experience better positive emotions,” de Villiers said. “I learned how to practice gratitude and how to look at my strengths and how to apply my strengths because I have them.”
De Villiers’ passion for mental health and her focus on her community are a common theme in her passion for helping others. In the future, de Villiers hopes to create a space in which people aren’t afraid to speak up about their struggles and connect with others.
“I think that everyone deserves to be heard. Everyone struggles with something, whether they talk about it or not, or if they show it or not,” de Villiers said. “I think it’s really important to create these communities because it’s a way to bring people together and increase knowledge about it.”
