Speaking
Doreen's keynotes and workshops are sought out by Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, academic institutions, and community organizations.
She captivates audiences with her engaging blend of cultural awareness, cutting-edge research, and rich multi-media presentations. She brings both depth and levity to complex topics and audiences.
With 30 years of on stage experience, Doreen has a uniquely energetic, and engaging presentation style, blending culturally relevant information, eye-catching video, and cutting edge research to deepen audience member’s engagement with her topics. The most frequently made comment following her presentations is “More please! I could have listened to her talk all day!”
Doreen speaks on topics related to healthy tech use, boredom as an antidote for the negative impact of digital engagement, how to give compelling talks, and various mental health topics such as trauma, complicated grief, and effective self care.
She offers the talks listed below and can also tailor a special and sparkling presentation specific to your audience. She shines in both in person and online spaces.
Dr. Doreen loves black coffee, dancing, her meditation cushion, and people…mostly people.
Bring Doreen to your next event
(like these folks, & others, have).
What it’s like to work with Dr. Doreen
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“Balancing the demands of modern life can make it difficult to show up as your best self. Doreen’s authentic approach provides a straightforward solution, empowering employees and organizations to take a purposeful pause and recharge through valuable insights, engaging content, and thoughtful discussion.”
-Robert Stein
Employee Engagement Manager
Google -
Dr Doreen was an incredibly dynamic trainer. She brought unique ideas to our team, and she has an ability to slice through the trainees guard, and entice them to engage authentically.
Elizabeth Gemeroy,
Director of Organizing
Oregon Nurses Association -
We have had the pleasure of partnering with Dr. Doreen for over three years as part of our annual Mental Health Matters campaign, and she continues to be one of our most beloved and impactful speakers! Her warmth, authenticity, and ability to make mental health topics approachable and meaningful consistently resonate with our employees, making her sessions some of our most highly attended. We cannot recommend Dr. Doreen enough and look forward to welcoming her back year after year!
-Brandon Fries,
Senior Manager People & Culture Business Partnerships
Kate Farms -
“Doreen is an extraordinary speaker and thought partner. She brings such warmth, authenticity, and care to her work, and was deeply invested in shaping a conversation that would genuinely resonate with our audience. Her ability to make complex, timely topics feel approachable, deeply human, and actionable left participants feeling both seen and empowered to make meaningful changes in their own lives. Working with her was an absolute joy!”
-Sarah Jones, Managing Director, Events at Teach For America
What We Resist, Persists: Telling the Truth about Mental Health, Stress, & Work
(General or Corporate Audiences)
Productivity (Grind) culture is real and takes a profound toll on team members’ ability to focus, follow through, and remain healthy . Your team will learn about the neurological impact of living “always on” and explore a plethora of options for taking consistent and realistic 10 minute breaks that reverse harm and rejuvenate the team and it’s members.
The Power of Pause: Turning from Tech Toward Calm
Most people feel the impact of their device use and want to use tech less but lack the tools to do so. This talk gives a brief overview of the neurological and intra personal benefits of being able to stop, get emotionally regulated, and develop a realistic self care plan, then dives deep into teaching the skills of psychological and physiological regulation in fun and practical ways.
Does Giving Life Mean Losing Mine: Parenting While Whole
As children and teens suffer with greater levels of depression and anxiety in a world that expects more of them, caregivers are left bereft of help or comfort in the impossible task of parenting. Giving practical tips for how to have hard conversations, get to the root of issues, and communicate well within their families, this talk will also emphasize the strong need for setting the stage for health, self care, community building, and boundary setting as a parent.
Welcome to my Boredom Party! How 10 min of Boredom Changes Everything
In this fun, energetic talk participants learn how productivity culture, alongside access to digital spaces 24/7 impacts the wiring of their brains as well as their ability to regulate their emotions. Tips and tools for how to use a daily 10 minute boredom practice to rewire the brain, increasing focus, creativity, joy, connection, and more!
Embodied Rest Experiences
These are experiential sessions where differing forms of meditation and regulation skills are taught and practiced. I’ve typically offered these in tandem with other talks, providing a bit of a break after a lecture and encouraging people to re-enter the space in comfortable clothing and without shoes.
I Belong to Me: Maintaining Mental Health in a World that Cares Less
Belonging to self, also spoken of as having an internal locus of control, doesn’t make someone selfish. Instead, it enables them to live wild, fiery, engaged-with- others and doing-important-work lives from a place of groundedness, discernment, and effectiveness. Learning to take breaks from the curated spaces of social media and news, to settle into comfort with oneself, and to create a realistic self development plan will be encouraged and facilitated in creative and empathic ways.
Deviced! Balancing Life & Technology in a Digital World
(General Audiences or Parenting Audiences)
The 10.5 hours a day that people spend with screens are taking a toll and their brains show the impact. This upbeat, positive talk helps particpants understand the cognitive, emotional, physical, and relational toll of near constant technology use and offers actionable, free, and fun tools for reversing negative effects.
Self Care for Activists
The need for constant adaptation, never ending back-breaking pace, exposure to disappointment and backlash, and intensity of the work of activism and organizing lead to burn out and mental health concerns for this population. Offering a compassionate space in which to honor the audience members for their work while also affirming the need for rest and care, this talk offers an opportunity for groups to take a collective breath, assess their current needs (individual and communal), and make a realistic and practical self care plan.
De-vicing Your Awkward, Big, Boring, Beautiful, Post Grad Life (Commencement Address)
10 minute talk overviewing the way in which technology enables us to overextend and live outside of our skin with inspiration for balancing the demands of modern life with a rich and interesting embodied life.