We are living in a time of systemic burnout brought on by COVID-19. The pandemic is a “population shock” event, causing rates of anxiety and depression to raise all over the world. In the U.S., rates are up by nearly 25%. This seriousness of this mental health toll is only now being acknowledged—across various professions, in higher education, and more. Workers, parents, students, professionals, and entrepreneurs are all suffering; systemic burnout doesn’t discriminate. But when we are suffering, we often don’t recognize it, and when we do, we don’t know what do to about it.

In this talk, Katie Rose Guest Pryal, J.D., Ph.D., award-winning author of Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education, applies her decade-plus of research on mental health and organizations to help your group understand systemic burnout, spot it, and then address it. In either a keynote or workshop format, customized to your needs, Dr. Pryal delivers hopeful guidance in these challenging times.

How do we make a better world—big and small—in the face of the immense neurodiversity we are only beginning to understand? According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 in 5 US adults will experience a mental disorder every year. This high rate takes its toll: on family, friends, workplaces, and, most of all, on the people themselves—who must deal not only with their disabilities but with lack of understanding and acceptance.

In this talk, Katie Rose Guest Pryal, J.D., Ph.D., author of the bestselling book Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education, applies her decade of research on mental health and organizations to guide your group toward a holistic understanding of mental health, community, accessibility, and wellness. In either a keynote or workshop format, customized to your organization's needs, Dr. Pryal brings inspirational guidance that executives, leaders, and all organizational members can use to set a tone of support and growth.

What do exceptional children need from their communities in order to live happy and successful lives?

Katie Rose Guest Pryal, J.D., Ph.D., was an exceptional child with exceptional needs—and now she’s raising two of them herself. Bestselling author and writer of the popular column “Mom, Interrupted” for the magazine Catapult, Dr. Pryal draws on her own childhood experiences as she recounts heartwarming and hilarious stories of parenting her exceptional children. Schools, parenting organizations, social workers, and other groups that care about children will fall in love with Dr. Pryal's heartfelt, frustrating, yet somehow funny stories from the parenting front lines. And they will leave with key takeways: from protecting the privacy of children in our age of oversharing to figuring out how to find the right adults to include in a child's life. (Hint: They're not always who you think they should be). Although the road we're traveling right now isn't always accessible for disabled kids, together we can help make the ride a little smoother.

Katie Pryal, author of the award-winning book THE FREELANCE ACADEMIC, inspires listeners to build sustainable work in the jungle of the new gig economy. Pryal built a second career while teaching as a non-tenure-track law professor—until finally making the leap out of the academy. In this talk, she shares her secrets for success. Not just for academics, this talk inspires listeners to transform their current skills, whatever they may be, into something sustaining—professionally and personally. Pryal helps listeners figure out the best kind of work for them, whether they are starting from the ground up with a brand new career or adding onto the work they are already doing. She provides practical tips for how to set up different types of business formations, from sole proprietorships all the way to corporations, describing the benefits of each for each type of business. Audiences will leave her talk inspired and informed.