Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio Speaking Topics

• From Crisis to Growth: How Adversity Can Catalyze Meaning, Strength, and Resilience

  (60 min keynote)

  In an era of unprecedented collective upheaval

  • political instability, climate anxiety, economic uncertainty, and workplace transformation

  • traditional resilience strategies aren't enough. Drawing on 20+ years of clinical research and her own journey through burnout and renewal, Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio reveals the emerging science of what she calls "crisis resilience"

  • the capacity to not just survive disruption, but to transform through it.

  This keynote goes beyond the basics of resilience to explore how individuals and organizations can navigate sustained uncertainty without burning out. You'll learn evidence-based practices from neuroscience, psychology, and yes, ancient wisdom traditions that are now validated by modern research.

  Perfect for: Leadership conferences, healthcare organizations, corporate wellness programs, HR summits

  Key Takeaways:

  • The neuroscience of stress vs. eustress: Why some pressure catalyzes growth while other stress destroys
  • Building collective resilience: How teams can resource each other during prolonged crisis
  • The 5 domains of post-traumatic growth: Transforming adversity into evolution
  • Practical tools for maintaining coherence when the world feels chaotic
  • Why purpose and meaning are your most powerful resilience resources
  • Somatic practices for nervous system regulation (breath work, embodiment techniques)

  What makes this different: Unlike traditional resilience talks that focus on "bouncing back," this explores how to evolve forward

  • using crisis as a catalyst for personal and professional transformation.

• THE HEALING POWER OF BEAUTY: The Neuroscience of Art, Meaning, and Well-Being

  (60 min keynote)

  What if beauty isn't just "nice to have" but essential for human health, creativity, and resilience? Emerging research in neuroaesthetics reveals that our brains are wired to respond to beauty in measurable ways

  • reducing stress, enhancing problem-solving, and even strengthening immune function. In this visually stunning keynote, Dr. 1Dréa Pennington Wasio explores how art, music, nature, and aesthetic experience can be leveraged as tools for healing, innovation, and well-being.

  Drawing on neuroscience research and her own journey as a physician-turned-artist, she reveals practical ways to integrate beauty and creativity into daily life and organizational culture

  • not as frivolous extras, but as strategic resources for thriving in challenging times.

  Perfect for: Healthcare conferences, corporate wellness programs, design/creativity summits, education conferences, arts organizations

  Key Takeaways:

  • The neuroscience of aesthetic experience: What happens in your brain when you encounter beauty
  • How art and music regulate the nervous system (research-backed)
  • "Aesthetic breaks" as a productivity and mental health tool
  • Designing workspaces and routines that nourish the senses
  • The link between creativity and resilience
  • Why "musicians on the Titanic" were doing sacred work (beauty matters, especially in crisis)

  Visual Element: This keynote can include curated images, music clips, or even live creative demonstration depending on format.

• PSYCHEDELICS & CONSCIOUSNESS: The Future of Mental Health and Human Potentia

  (60 min keynote)

  Psychedelic-assisted therapy is moving from counterculture to mainstream medicine, with FDA approval for MDMA and psilocybin treatments on the horizon. But beyond treating PTSD and depression, these substances are catalyzing a broader conversation about consciousness, healing, and human potential. In this cutting-edge keynote, physician and consciousness researcher Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio explores the science, ethics, and practical implications of the "psychedelic renaissance."

  This is NOT about recreational use. This is about therapeutic applications, research findings, and consciousness exploration within medical/psychological frameworks.

  Perfect for: Healthcare conferences, mental health summits, wellness programs, progressive corporate audiences, medical education

  Key Takeaways:

  • Current state of psychedelic research (clinical trials, FDA status)
  • How psychedelics work in the brain (neuroscience overview)
  • Therapeutic protocols: Set, setting, integration
  • Ethical considerations and cultural appropriation concerns
  • Non-psychedelic tools that access similar states (breathwork, meditation)
  • Preparing for a post-prohibition paradigm in mental healthcare

  Important: Only pitch this to audiences explicitly interested in mental health innovation, consciousness, or integrative medicine. Not for conservative corporate clients.

• NAVIGATING THE COLLECTIVE DARK NIGHT: Leading Through Upheaval with Consciousness

  (60 min keynote)

  We're not just in a leadership crisis or a mental health crisis

  • we're in a consciousness crisis. The old paradigms of success, leadership, and meaning are breaking down, leaving millions feeling lost, overwhelmed, or numb. Drawing on Jungian psychology, spiritual traditions, and her own framework called "The Dark Night of the Ego™," Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio offers a radical reframe: What if this collective breakdown is actually a breakthrough in progress?

  This keynote explores the psychological and spiritual dynamics of collective transformation

  • what happens when societies (and the individuals within them) outgrow old identities and beliefs. You'll learn how to recognize the stages of collective crisis, support yourself and others through the disorientation, and emerge with greater clarity, purpose, and resilience.

  Perfect for: Leadership summits, social impact organizations, healthcare/mental health conferences, conscious business forums, changemaker gatherings

  Key Takeaways:

  • The "Dark Night" framework: Recognizing the stages of breakdown before breakthrough
  • Why traditional coping mechanisms (positivity, distraction, "pushing through") often backfire during collective crisis
  • The neuroscience of identity dissolution and reconstruction
  • Practical tools for staying grounded when the world feels unmoored
  • How to lead others through uncertainty without having all the answers
  • The role of meaning-making in navigating collective trauma

  Content Warning: This talk addresses current events and collective distress with honesty and depth. Recommended for audiences ready to engage with challenging topics.

• MONEY, MEANING, AND MINDSET: How Beliefs Shape Financial Decisions and Leadership

  (60–90 minute keynote or half-day interactive workshop)

  In an era of economic uncertainty, corporate restructuring, and rapid technological disruption, the rules of money are being rewritten. Remote work, AI, market volatility, and generational wealth transfer are forcing leaders to rethink not only compensation and investment decisions—but what “success” actually means.

  Yet most financial decision-making is still driven by unconscious beliefs formed decades ago—beliefs rooted in scarcity, fear, and outdated cultural narratives.

  What if the key to navigating today’s financial complexity isn’t just better budgeting or market analysis—but understanding the psychological forces driving our relationship with money?

  In this thought-provoking keynote, physician and researcher Dr. DaeEss 1Dréa Pennington Wasio bridges neuroscience, psychology, and leadership strategy to reveal how deeply held money beliefs shape decision-making at every level—from salary negotiations and risk tolerance to organizational culture and executive leadership.

  Drawing on two decades of research and her own journey from burnout-driven achievement to purpose-aligned wealth, Dr. DaeEss helps audiences uncover the hidden patterns that keep even high-performing professionals stuck in scarcity thinking. This is not financial planning 101—it is the inner work that allows financial strategy to succeed.

  Through her proprietary 5-step framework for reshaping financial decision-making and agency (often referred to as “rewriting your financial destiny”), participants learn how to identify limiting money scripts, rewire habitual responses to uncertainty, and make values-aligned financial decisions grounded in clarity rather than fear.

  This keynote does not provide financial or investment advice. It focuses on the psychological and leadership dynamics that influence financial behavior and decision-making.

  Ideal for: Executive leadership teams, financial services organizations, HR and talent development, entrepreneurship summits, women in business conferences, wealth management firms, and corporate culture transformation initiatives.

  Key Takeaways

  The Psychology of Money in Times of Change

  • Why financial anxiety is rising—even among high earners—and what neuroscience reveals about decision-making under uncertainty
  • How collective economic stress shapes individual and organizational money behavior
  • The hidden leadership costs of scarcity thinking: reduced creativity, risk aversion, and burnout

  Your Money Story: How It Forms—and How It Changes

  • Identifying inherited money scripts from family, culture, and early experience
  • Why affirmations alone don’t rewire financial behavior
  • Distinguishing real-world constraints from psychological scarcity

  The Worth–Wealth Connection

  • The research-backed link between self-worth, compensation, and leadership presence
  • Why imposter syndrome and under-earning often coexist
  • Shifting from “what I deserve” to “what I create and contribute”

  Leading with Financial Consciousness

  • How leaders’ money mindsets shape organizational culture and compensation equity
  • Creating psychologically safe environments to address financial stress and motivation
  • Designing incentive structures that honor both meaning and market realities

  Optional Half-Day Workshop: Includes interactive exercises, guided reflection, small-group dialogue, and a personalized Financial Decision-Making Action Plan participants can immediately apply.

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