Loretta LaRoche

Loretta LaRoche Speaker Biography

Stress Management Expert, Bestselling Humorist,
and Star of Emmy-Winning PBS Specials

Loretta is an international stress management and humor consultant whose wit, and irreverent humor, has, for over 30 years raised the humor potential in all of us. She is on the Mass General advisory council for anxiety and depression and was recently awarded the National Humor Treasure Award. Loretta writes a weekly newspaper column called, ‘Get a Life’. She is also featured as a stress management expert on a community wellness website and a website celebrating life on the flipside of age 50.

Stress Management

Loretta is founder and president of a company offering programs and products for life style management. Her special brand of optimistic psychology has an incontestable positive effect on the health of all that are exposed to her. Organizations worldwide use Loretta’s prescription for laughter to manage stress in the workplace and improve morale.

Clients

Loretta’s energetic meeting openings, trainings and keynotes serve to improve learning skills and put a room in an enthusiastic frame of mind. Clients such as IBM, The New York Times, Fidelity Investments, Microsoft, the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and NASA, just to name a few, have used her material to defeat stress in the workplace.

Media and Books

She is also a well-recognized TV personality on PBS and best selling author. She has had six one-woman television specials air on 80 PBS stations across the country. She has been nominated for local and prime time Emmy Awards, has appeared on CNN, ABC and NBC affiliates. She has authored 7 books, The Joy Journal, Happy Talk, Relax: You May Only Have a Few Minutes Left, Life is Not a Stress Rehearsal and, Life Is Short- Wear Your Party Pants, Squeeze the Day, Kick Up Heels Before You’re Too Short to Wear, and her latest book, Lighten Up.

Loretta LaRoche Speaking Topics

STRESS LESS with HUMOR AND OPTIMISM

A life that is fulfilling is predicated on discovering how to use thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to enhance our mental and physical well being. Many of us go day to day hypnotized by internal dialogue that leads us down the path of negativity and unhappiness. It is often the result of parental and societal messages, but it can also be an inherited predisposition towards depression and/or anxiety. Optimism, which is a resiliency based model, can be taught. It is not the fairy tale concept of simply thinking “positive thoughts”, but rather an explanatory style. When we add the ingredient of humor, our ability to handle life’s inevitable ups and downs becomes more accessible. The following concepts will be explored:

The “WOW” FACTOR - Wisdom, Openness, and Wonder as a benchmark for living well

We’ve all met enthusiastic, energetic people that leave us wondering what they could possibly be “on” to be the way they are. Most individuals today report fatigue and stress as a way of life. There are a myriad of causes, but the most prevalent problem is the notion that life is a constant series of tasks that need to be accomplished and expedited quickly. As a result taking care of one’s health and happiness becomes secondary to making sure everything is done by the end of the day. Ironically this mentality actually drains our resources and dampens the very thing we need to have a productive life which is energy, or a feeling of “WOW”. Our ability to use our wisdom, be open to new ideas and experience wonder in the everyday is exchanged for a robotic mentality based on forging ahead. When we are in a “WOW” mode relationships flourish, success is more attainable, and we tend to feel more energetic.

LIFE IS NOT A STRESS REHERSAL

Stress has become a metaphor for daily life and a way of defining ourselves. Conversations are saturated with remarks about how and what we have to do to the exclusion of fun, which comes at the end of a daunting schedule. Technology has added fuel to the fire by making it possible to constantly be “in touch” therefore giving the brain no respite from its incessant chatter. The byproducts of a stress filled life can leave our brains and bodies compromised. It is estimated that stress has become a 5 billion dollar a year industry. Most individuals believe that stress is someone or something that must be changed or altered in order to get relief. However relief only comes from truly understanding that the problem most often comes from “faulty thinking” and the choices that are made as a result. We all know that progress is a fact of life and that we need to be vigilant about having shelter, clothing and food to sustain us and hopefully have enough left over to do those things we enjoy. However, it is possible to live “the good life” without living a life that is filled with daily “catastrophizing” and “awfulizing.”

How to Prevent Hardening of the Attitude

Our work literally takes up most of our lives. Therefore, it would make sense for us to choose to enjoy it. Find out how to look forward to Monday instead of enduring until Friday! Discover how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can affect work performance, relationships and our own selfworth.

Parenting with Humor

“Sit down, stop it, clean your room, don’t use my good scissors!” Sound familiar? Can we raise a responsible human being using optimism, joy and good humor without resorting to awfulizing and catastrophizing? Explore the possibilities of having a family that laughs and supports each other.

Love, Laughter & Lasagna

Sick of being a “Human Doing?” Savor ways to elicit the past to reframe the present into a simpler lifestyle that honors families, friends, a sense of community and yourself.