Dr Kathy Beck-Coon, Class of 1970

Kathy Beck-Coon, born Kathleen Ann Beck, was born on April 19, 1952 at Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond Indiana.  Her parents, Phil and Janet Beck, were lifelong residents of Richmond.  Phil owned Beck’s Welding Company and Janet was a stay at home mom.  They were devout members of the Richmond Catholic Community and, Kathy, the first of seven kids, attended St Mary’s Elementary School.  Kathy, says that growing up with three brothers and three sisters was crazy at times.

But Kathy says that the biggest influence on her career choice as an OB/GYN was her experience at age 13.  She had an illness that no one could diagnose.  That included the IU Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati.  The doctors were uncomfortable in not knowing what to do or how to help.  They told Phil and Janet that she was perhaps “psychosomatic” and that as one of seven children she may have needed more attention.  The Beck’s both knew that there was plenty of love and care in her family.

The Beck’s family physician, who lived right behind them and knew the family well, also did not buy the diagnosis. He proceeded over the next several months to begin aggressive studying and testing until finding the diagnosis.  Kathy had a rare form of Addison’s disease.  Addison’s disease is an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce insufficient steroid hormones.  The doctor started treatment just before she needed an appendectomy.  The anesthesiologist informed them that without the treatment, she would very likely not lived through the surgery.  Kathy was inspired by the doctor’s dedication to her well-being without any fanfare of need for reward.

She continued on with that dream through high school.  As a student at Richmond High School, from 1964 to 1970, she liked studying math and science and was involved in many extracurricular activities. Kathy says that many teachers influenced her while in high school, but after more than 30 years, there are two that stand out in her memory.  Her Latin Teacher of four years was one, and the other was her choir teacher, David Davenport.

After graduating in 1970, Kathy continued on to Indiana University.  She chose IU because it was the only college in the state that she knew about that had a great pre-med program at the time.  After completing the first four years, she endured another four years of Medical School.  During that time, Kathy married Robert Coon.  Robert, an orthodontic surgeon, and a Kathy, who was on her way to becoming a doctor, felt that they should combine their last names, to become Beck-Coon, because of their professions.  After those eight years of schooling, she entered an OB/GYN residency starting with a rotating internship.  During that year, Kathy became pregnant with her first child, Ben.  After that, she took a one year hiatus and worked part-time so that she could be home with him most of the time.

The usual four year residency was extended to five and ½ years.  She also did extra training in psychology, infertility, and urological surgery.  After this training, Kathy opened a private practice in Anderson , Indiana.  Kathy practiced Obstrericts/Gyunecology for the next 22 years.  For those 22 years, a day might consist of treating a woman with a miscarriage; surgery for pelvic organ disease or dysfunction; delivering a baby or babies; counseling woman of all ages in major life transformations that could at times feel very stressful for them;  education about participating in these changes in an empowering healthy way;’ running to the ER to comfort, counsel, and treat a woman who had been raped; telling a woman and her family that she had a diagnosis of cancer; and back to labor and delivery to treat pre-term labor.

As a private practitioner, she was able to set her own schedule that allowed, for example, setting up a nursery in her office for when her third child, Maggie was born.  It also allowed her to be able to be ther for her kid’s events that were important to them.

After an extended illness in 2003, Kathy was no longer able to practice OB/GYN.  She decided to train in teaching a practice that was the basis for her own healing; meditation.  Kathy now teaches meditation, yoga and stress reduction at local hospitals and the Indiana School of Nursing.  She is also involved in research in this work.  “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduciton or MBSR) presently for those why have been treated for cancer.

The program and its outgrowth of research was and still is a pioneer in understanding the role of the mide-body connections in health and well-being.  MBSR has been featured on PBS< NBC dateline, CBS’s Sunday Morning, and several other national media print.  Some of the results of MBSR include; a decrease in pain levels, and an improved ability to cope with pain, a reduction in adverse physical and pshychological symptoms, greater energy and sense of well-being in life, and improved coping skills in stressful situations.
Dr Kathleen Beck-Coons is the only provider of this service in Central Indiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  380 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond, IN 47374

 (765) 973-3338