She is the founder of Byron Katie International, an organization that includes the School for the Work and Turnaround House in Ojai, California.
[2] In 1963 she married Robert Robinson in San Bernardino at age 19, had three children and started a career in real estate.
In 1986, when she was forty-three with three children and unhappily married to her second husband, she reportedly suffered from depression, agoraphobia, overeating and self-medicating with codeine and alcohol.
[2] She called her insurance company for help, and was referred to Hope House in Los Angeles, a women's counseling center that has since closed.
After two weeks of self-reflection in her home, she reportedly experienced an epiphany in her thinking which created a way for her to challenge and lessen the harmful effects of long-held beliefs.
Her books provide a comprehensive introduction to her method, including detailed discussions of how each step is conducted and examples from real-life sessions.