Meredith Van Ness is a licensed clinical social worker and speaker with more than 20 years of experience in mental health, workplace wellness, and community-based education.

A woman giving a presentation on "International Self-Care Day" to an audience seated at tables. The room is decorated with string lights and a disco ball on the ceiling. A projector displays the presentation on a large screen, emphasizing self-care for mind, body, and soul.

For Meredith, speaking and workshops are a natural extension of her work as a therapist. They are a way to bring mental health education outside of the therapy room and into workplaces, conferences, retreats, community spaces, and private groups.

Her workshops and presentations are designed to feel grounded, engaging, and relevant to the real pressures people are navigating at work, in relationships, and in daily life. Sessions blend clinical insight, relatable examples, and practical reflection, helping participants better understand stress, burnout, self-doubt, confidence, emotional well-being, and the demands of modern life.

Each talk or workshop can be tailored to the audience, format, and goals of the event. Sessions can be delivered as interactive workshops, keynote-style presentations, lunch and learns, leadership trainings, wellness events, conferences, retreats, or private group sessions.

Workshop Topics

These are a few examples of sessions that can be adapted for teams, organizations, retreats, conferences, wellness initiatives, community groups, and other live events.

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Confidence in the Workplace

This session focuses specifically on confidence at work and in professional settings.

Meredith shares science-backed strategies for building confidence through action, including the confidence–competence loop and how small, deliberate steps strengthen self-trust over time.

This session includes:

  • What actually builds confidence at work

  • The confidence–competence loop and why action matters

  • Three types of confidence: self-confidence, social confidence, and task-specific confidence

  • Navigating self-doubt and imposter syndrome in professional roles

  • Practical tools participants can apply immediately at work

This session works well for broad employee audiences, leadership teams, and professional development programming.

Finding Balance: Work, Life, and Everything In Between

Work–life balance isn’t something you achieve once and keep forever. It’s something you practice, reassess, and adjust as work and life change.

In this workshop, Meredith helps participants rethink balance in a realistic way. Not as perfection or equal time, but as intentional choices that support energy, well-being, and sustainability, especially during busy seasons.

This session includes:

  • Rethinking what balance actually means in real life

  • Early signs of imbalance and burnout

  • Small habits and boundaries that support sustainability

  • Managing competing demands without constant guilt

  • Practical strategies for busy, high-demand seasons

This session can be delivered as a workshop or adapted into a large-format presentation.

A handwritten note on white paper that reads, 'How we live is what makes us real,' placed on a rustic wooden surface with green tropical leaves on the left and right sides.
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Self-Care: Mind, Body & Soul

Self-care doesn’t have to be time-consuming, expensive, or another thing to do perfectly. It needs to be realistic, supportive, and sustainable.

This workshop focuses on simple self-care practices that fit into real workdays and busy lives, without adding more pressure.

This session includes:

  • Reframing self-care as a support, not a checklist

  • Small, meaningful practices that actually help

  • Self-compassion during high-stress or demanding seasons

  • Identifying what drains energy and what restores it

  • Creating habits that support well-being over time

This session is especially well-suited for wellness months, high-stress seasons, and company-wide audiences.

Building Confidence

Confidence isn’t about feeling fearless or eliminating self-doubt. It’s about learning how to trust yourself, take action when things feel uncomfortable, and build momentum over time.

In this workshop, Meredith breaks down what confidence really is, what it is not, and why so many capable people struggle with it. The focus is practical, supportive, and grounded in real life.

This session includes:

  • Common myths about confidence and why they keep people stuck

  • How self-doubt and imposter syndrome show up, even in high performers

  • The role of values and strengths in building self-trust

  • Simple self-talk tools that support action without pressure

  • How small, consistent habits build confidence over time

This session can be delivered as an interactive workshop or adapted into a larger-format presentation.

Top-down view of a work desk with a laptop, a cup of coffee, a white computer mouse, a notepad, two pens, a skull figurine, a magnifying glass, earbuds, and a camera on a wooden surface.

Empowered You

Empowered You is a therapist-led workshop created to help women navigate self-doubt, emotional overwhelm, and the pressure to hold everything together, especially at work and in busy seasons of life.

Rather than focusing on motivation or quick fixes, this workshop centers on practical tools, self-trust, and realistic change. The goal is to help participants feel more grounded, confident, and supported in how they show up both professionally and personally.

Empowered You can be offered as a mini workshop, a half-day session, or a full-day experience, depending on the goals of the organization.

This workshop may include:

  • Understanding common patterns of self-doubt and overthinking

  • Building confidence through small, sustainable actions

  • Self-care and boundaries that support real-life demands

  • Reconnecting with values, strengths, and self-trust

  • Tools for clarity, confidence, and follow-through

Empowered You works especially well for women’s initiatives, leadership development, wellness programming, and organizations looking to offer a deeper, more immersive experience.

Optional Add-On: Empowered You Course Bundle

Organizations have the option to bundle the Empowered You workshop with access to the Empowered You self-paced course.

This option allows participants to continue the work beyond the live session, reinforcing key concepts and offering additional tools for reflection, confidence-building, and self-care at their own pace.

The course complements the workshop content and provides structure and support for continued learning after the event.

This bundle may include:

  • Access to the Empowered You online course for participating employees

  • Flexible enrollment options, including organization-distributed access codes or direct employee sign-up

  • The option to pair course access with individual coaching or therapy sessions for employees seeking additional support

This bundle works especially well for women’s initiatives, wellness programming, leadership development, and EAP offerings where ongoing support is valued.

Meredith Van Ness Empowered You Collection of digital devices displaying self-care course materials, including a laptop, tablet, and smartphones.
Meredith Van Ness Empowered You Collection of digital devices displaying self-care course materials, including a laptop, tablet, and smartphones.

What People Are Saying

  • "Meredith’s session, The Skill of Confidence: Your Pathway to Workplace Success, was exactly what we asked for. She took the feedback she received from her previous session with our group, Self-Care During Your Busy Season: Mind, Body, & Soul, and developed a presentation to meet our specific needs. She provided clear definitions, real examples, and tangible takeaways, and she wove in our company values and performance metrics. We received a lot of positive feedback from those who attended. Meredith is a naturally gifted speaker – she connects, energizes, and adapts – who is an expert in her field.

    – Deidra P. Steamboat Resort

  • " I walked away from Meredith's training with a renewed sense of purpose and the confidence to tackle challenges head-on. Her insights on self-care and self-compassion were truly transformative."

    – Rachel P. Corporate Leader

  • Meredith's workshop was a game-changer! The practical tools and strategies she shared helped me build confidence and navigate challenges with a new perspective. Highly recommend!"

    – Emily T. Marketing Manager

  • Meredith’s approach is engaging, insightful, and empowering. She creates an atmosphere where you feel safe to learn, reflect, and grow. I walked away with actionable tools that made an immediate difference in my life."

    – Sarah W. Therapist

  • Meredith's workshop gave me the tools I needed to overcome imposter syndrome and really own my strengths. Her approachable style made the concepts easy to understand and apply to my daily life."

    – Jane D. Entrepreneur

Book Meredith

Looking to bring Meredith in for a podcast, panel, workshop, or live event?

Meredith brings a grounded, thoughtful approach to conversations around anxiety, emotional wellbeing, confidence, and self-trust. She shares clear, relatable insights that help audiences better understand what drives their emotional patterns and how to navigate them in everyday life.

Book Meredith

Meet Me on Instagram

Happy Tuesday, and the 2nd of the month. 🤍⁠ ⁠ The older I get, the more I realize the people you surround yourself with really are everything. Not in a big way. In a regular Tuesday way. The ones who make the ordinary feel like enough. ⁠ ⁠ And as a
Summer has always been my favorite season, and there is something about this time of year that feels like a small reset. More light. More time outside. A little more space to breathe and think about what you want to carry into the next month.⁠ ⁠ As a