Brendan Kelly
Transform workplace wellbeing with Brendan Kelly, speaker, psychiatrist and mental health expert. Brendan works with organisations to build resilience, enhance happiness, and navigate mental health challenges, delivering evidence-based strategies backed by 20+ books and Trinity College Dublin expertise.
Dublin, Ireland
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As Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist at Tallaght University Hospital, Brendan has authored over 20 books, including The Science of Happiness, Resilience, and The Modern Psychiatrist's Guide to Contemporary Practice. His work regularly appears in prestigious academic journals and mainstream media outlets.
Brendan helps organisations navigate today's mental health challenges by combining historical perspective with cutting-edge research. His work, in addition, addresses anxiety surrounding technological change, workplace stress, and post-pandemic resilience. His background in medicine, law, history, and Buddhist studies provides multidimensional solutions to complex problems.
Audiences leave Brendan's presentations with evidence-based strategies for building personal resilience, practical tools for enhancing workplace wellbeing, and fresh perspectives on happiness grounded in scientific research rather than trendy quick fixes.
Book Brendan Kelly for an engaging keynote that delivers serious mental health insights with warmth, humour, and the rare ability to make complex ideas accessible to everyone.
Topics, Sessions And Talks
Professor Brendan Kelly explores what modern science reveals about the pursuit of happiness, drawing from his bestselling book The Science of Happiness. Examining global trends and surprising insights, such as why 47 is the age of greatest unhappiness, he reveals practical, research-based principles and strategies that help foster a more fulfilling life. Blending psychology, philosophy and humour, Brendan offers a compelling framework for creating the conditions in which happiness can flourish, even amidst the challenges of modern living.
Based on his personal experiment detailed in The Doctor Who Sat For a Year, Brendan brings insight, warmth and wit to the realities of incorporating meditation into a busy life. He shares what happened when he, a psychiatrist and self-confessed ‘Zen failure’, attempted to sit quietly for 15 minutes each day over the course of a year. The result is a reflection on mindfulness, not as perfection but as presence, and how small changes in awareness can transform how we relate to ourselves and others.
Through the lens of Ireland’s experience of Covid-19 and the historical legacy of pandemics, Brendan explores the paradox of human fragility and strength. Drawing from his book Resilience, he examines how societies remember, or forget, major traumas and what we can learn from figures such as Sir William Wilde. With clarity and compassion, Brendan outlines how hardship can be a catalyst for wisdom, adaptability and deeper connection, both individually and collectively.
With experience as both an academic and a frontline clinician, Brendan offers an accessible yet thorough overview of mental health. He demystifies key conditions, including depression, schizophrenia and anxiety, while exploring the evolution of psychiatry and mental health care systems. With deep empathy and a strong call for justice and reform, he equips audiences to better understand mental illness, challenge stigma and support those affected.
Brendan addresses the psychological unease surrounding artificial intelligence and new technologies through a historical and human lens. Tracing the cyclical pattern of panic and adjustment that has followed innovations from steam engines to social media, he reveals how today’s anxieties about AI reflect deeper concerns about autonomy and control. Bridging history, ethics and mental health, Brendan offers a grounded approach to engaging with technology in a balanced and person-centred way.
Looking for a custom keynote or workshop designed around your company’s goals and culture? The expert will create a tailored, interactive session that aligns with your objectives, values, and strategic priorities. From leadership and innovation to wellbeing and collaboration, each experience is built from the ground up to deliver measurable impact and lasting change.
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