My talk on the Neurobiology of Innovation with social neuroscientist Caroline Szymanski, creativity researcher Sergio Agnoli and Stanford computational neuroscientist Manish Saggar at the dconfestival berlin
"Thank you Stefanie. I run a charitable Trust that has a focus on assisting people with Depression and Anxiety. I follow your podcasts and have got my partner onto them as well. We both find these so helpful in our line of work ( She is a clinical psychologist) and find your content very informative and very digestible to pass onto others in our work. Thank you for what you do."
-Andre Jackson
My Mission: I believe attachment-based neuroscience and systems thinking empowers therapists, coaches, teachers and leaders with new mindsets and approaches to mental health, wellbeing, performance and innovation. My experience has shown me that once people truly understand the power of their mind and the systems that influence their behavior, they access new forms of energy, motivation and a belief in their ability to learn and grow.
About me...
I'm a neuroscience specialist and educator focused on improving life outcomes for diverse populations by giving actionable and engaging neuroscience education that transforms mindsets and behaviors.
I'm a former researcher and have spent parts of my career measuring electric conductance of the skin (GSR), facial electromyography (EMG), and heart rate. My most current work has been with assessing and analyzing quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG), rhythmic sinus arrhythmia (heart rate variability), and administering neurofeedback, and transcranial magnetic stimulation for clinical treatment at an intensive outpatient mental health clinic. I also conduct cognitive training,biofeedback and neurofeedback with high-performance professionals, as well as children and teens with attention and learning challenges, and social anxiety and emotion regulation difficulties.
I have worked/am currently working with top-tier organizations such as Google, Stanford University, the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design, Northwestern University, Alberta Children’s Hospital, the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, City Colleges of Chicago, the Department of Defense, the Canada School of Public Service and many more.
My expertise is in coaching and teaching people how to use their mind-brain-body in ways that increase their sense of agency, self-compassion and sense of meaning and purpose. I'm particularly skilled at helping people who have a history of adverse early experiences and family dysfunction.
I also help individuals and organizations get the deepest understanding of themselves and others' behaviors by translating complex scientific concepts into real-world language that applies to how we build resilience, growth mindset, trust and psychological safety for ourselves and with others.
Through my content, coaching and consulting, I bridge the gap between research and application to help people find new ways of using their talents, discomforts, failures, and challenges as pathways to growth and evolution.
My graduate research at New York University and fieldwork at the NYU Phelps lab for neuroscience research, the NYU Institute for Prevention Science and Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine focused on the cross-section of self-directed neuroplasticity, family emotional climates, and empathy.
For the past decade, I've been teaching and consulting in countries all over the world by combining scientific insights and my training in monasteries with meditation masters from India, Africa and Vietnam.
I am a Master Faculty instructor and researcher at Google and have facilitated various series of workshops for Google's Analytical Academy in London, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Munich and Singapore focused on the Science of Learning.
I'm also a former department of defense analyst and French teacher to diplomats.
My current work is at a clinical neuropsychology center and creating content for the Mindset Neuroscience Podcast.
One of my favorite talks was at the Symposium on Neuroscience and Physiological Perspectives on Design Thinking and Creativity hosted by Stanford University and the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design in Berlin. The theme was 'Embodied Creativity and Cognition'.
"I teach high school history and I have a 20 year old son with generalized anxiety disorder. I find your videos extremely clarifying for both teaching and guiding my son through his disorder. I am only three videos in and I am hooked! I plan on using this to help me get ready for next school year, as it may look very different from my last 28 years."
-Gina Hanna, Teacher and Super-Regulator
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PAST CLIENTS INCLUDE:
Northwestern University, School of Education and Social Policy
Google
Northeastern University, Chicago
Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking, Berlin
City Colleges of Chicago
Illinois State University, Department of Education
University of California San Diego, School of Medicine
Tutoring Chicago (formerly Cabrini Green Tutoring)
EHOVE Career Training, Ohio
Blue Valley School District, Missouri
Horizon Science Academy, Chicago
Christopher House Chicago
Oak Park String Academy
Suzuki Music Association
Empowerment through Education and Exposure, Chicago
Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, Canada
Alberta Children's Hospital, Canada
Independence School District, Missouri
WORK WITH ME
"Your comments about perseverance gained by applying our strengths to a self-transcendent purpose have informed our practices around how we at Harrigan Solutions develop our employees. Thanks for this life changing insight."
-Harrigan Solutions
This is me with the headmasters of Namaskar primary school in Ejura, Ghana (years ago!)
Graduates of my Institute for Mindset, Resilience and Innovation training
A bit more about me:
- At NYU, I was honored to be mentored by Zoran Josipovic, whose research on mindfulness and meditation inspired me to train and study at various monasteries with meditation masters from India, Vietnam and Africa.
- I also had the privilege of working with social neuroscientist Lasana Harris, whose passion for promoting human dignity continues to inspire my work today.
- I've lived and worked in several different cities, including New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Brussels, Copenhagen, Las Vegas, Ottawa, my hometown of Calgary Canada, as well as Ghana and Central and South America.
- A life-shifting experience for me was taking high school graduates on a service-learning year abroad, where we did volunteer work, got stuck in a hurricane, and learned how to use painful life experiences to build a sense of purpose and service to others.
- I have worked with children for over 25 years in various roles, including nanny (for many years), child development researcher, school counselor, and program coordinator of various learning and talent development programs (including for Northwestern University, Calgary Bridge Foundation and Oak Park Education Foundation).
GET THE FREE TOOLKIT
Get the new FREE Toolkit - MINDSHIFT: How to Cultivate Paradigm Shifts Using Embodied Social Neuroscience
“I love that you use biological/ scientific facts of how our brains and bodies are historically designed, as well as how experiences and environments shape our behavior. It’s been more helpful than any doctors, therapists, yoga gurus, etc.
Thank you for giving us the hope and the inspiration to learn more."
-Caroline Bigley, email & podcast subscriber
My "unprofessional' bio
My favorite book is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. He points out that we often ask questions that only reveal 'data', number, and labels of people. But what really matters is finding out what people love, what brings them joy, soothing, pain and comfort.
I can spend hours playing with and talking with children. People have observed me spending hours lost in conversation with them - I love to hear about what they are thinking and observing
One of my greatest joys comes from seeing a kid really be themselves - joyful, curious, paying attention to what interests them. That's why I devoted two decades of my life caring for them and creating environments that would help them feel safe.
I first got a glimpse of 'neuroplasticity' when I taught French to adults - some of whom were close to retirement. I was able to help them become advanced French speakers within one year. It was full-time, eight hours a day of training - but it confirmed to me that many of our ideas about the adult brain's capacity to learn were outdated and wrong.
Although I find great solace and joy when I am in nature and with animals, my greatest yearning is to navigate the chaotic and complex realm of human to human interaction. I dream of being able to create things that can bridge communities who dislike, disagree with, or are even disgusted by each other - and build understanding and compassion between them because of the collision of those worlds.
I also would love one day to travel to different corners of the world and explore how ancestral knowledge from different communities connect with each other, and with our most updated understanding of science - including the brain as well as the physics and 'mechanics' of the universe.
GET THE FREE TOOLKIT
Get the new FREE Toolkit - MINDSHIFT: How to Cultivate Paradigm Shifts Using Embodied Social Neuroscience
Vibrational Availability: how our brain distorts people and reality – Mindset Neuroscience mini-episode
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The brain, more than anything, is a predictive system. It conserves energy by attempting to predict – rather than truly understand – what is in front of it. When information is missing, it fills in the blanks based on its…
Mindful Neuroscience: Mastering the Art of Inner Intelligence
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
“Your brain – every brain – is a work in progress. It is ‘plastic.’ From the day we’re born to the day we die, it continuously revises and remodels, improving or slowly declining, as a function of how we use…
Suppress, Switch, Engage: The neuro-mechanics of your inner voice and how to fuel your purpose – Season 4 Ep 7
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In my interview with Michelle “MACE” Curran, we dive into the neural architecture behind the idea of our inner critic, imposter syndrome, and what it means to live life from a place of striving and opening towards what we desire, rather than from a place of fear of rejection and failure.
We talk specifically about how these systems play out in our pursuit of our passions.
As you think about something you want to improve, achieve, transform… what do you notice about the chatter that goes on inside… does it remind you that you may not be able to pull it off? Or perhaps there’s an image of others looking at you disappointed, indifferent, or amused…
This is a big part of Michelle’s journey, as she dealt with self-doubt and feeling like she didn’t belong in a community that she had initially joined because of her passion and big dreams.
What would your life be like if that voice or those images boosted you up and fueled you to keep showing up as your highest, most evolved, courageous, alive self?
We can activate that inner voice to serve us in those ways, fueled by purpose, intention and faith in our ability to adapt and pivot as needed, even when things are uncertain and rocky.
Learn how we can specifically suppress, switch and engage our inner voice to help us expand towards our most vibrant states of being, service and purpose in this fascinating conversation with Michelle.
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Michelle Curran a former United States Air Force (USAF) major and a pilot in the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, or Thunderbirds. Curran was the lead solo pilot for the Squadron. Curran is the fifth woman to fly with the Thunderbirds, her callsign (or nickname) is “MACE”.
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