Member Spotlight - April 2025
Doreen Steenland, RN, BSN, PCC
Can you introduce yourself to the community?
I’m a Registered Nurse, ICF Certified Coach, speaker, Certified Xchange Approach facilitator, and author. I’m passionate about empowering medical professionals to navigate their high-stress careers with work/life balance, emotional and body intelligence, and applied neuroscience. Known as a reset specialist, she empowers healthcare teams to rethink survival mode, prioritize well-being, and reignite their passion for their work.
What did you do before becoming a coach, and how has that experience influenced your coaching practice?
Before becoming a coach, I had multiple roles in medicine from Critical Care→Emergency Room→Nurse Practitioner Responsibilities →Corporate Health and Wellness (BMW/ShopRite)→Private Practice Nursing→Investigative Nursing. Most of my roles were in high-stress environments which felt normal to my nervous system, until one day I woke up and it didn’t anymore! It was this journey to my own emotional regulation, EQ, and Body intelligence that led me into coaching. Once I discovered that you could rewire your stress patterns and let go of reactivity, I knew I wanted to help others do the same. Reactivity and the accompanying stress patterns were interfering with my relationships, my well-being, and my overall happiness in my work/life. This skill is considered by most a “soft skill,” but recent neuroscience advancements have catapulted it to a prerequisite for successful leadership.
Can you share a bit about your coaching training journey?
My coaching journey began at my two-year certification program at PCCI. Since then, I’ve completed dozens of certifications in advanced neuroscience coaching techniques, IPNB, somatic coaching, trauma-informed coaching, Positive Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Team/Group Coaching Certifications, and Xchange Approach Certified Facilitator, to name a few. I currently hold my PCC with the International Coaching Federation and I’m a CPCC with CCNI.
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about empowering medical professionals and their families to rethink survival mode, navigate their high-stress careers, and prioritize well-being. I’m one of 12 family members in medicine, so the well-being of medical practitioners is personal to me. I work with individuals, groups, teams, and organizations to increase retention, decrease absenteeism, decrease on-the-job stress/drama, and develop an intentional work-life balance by transforming medicine from the inside out, using experiential learning, appreciative inquiry, and brain-body-based tools.
What’s your favorite quote?
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor Frankl. This quote fits perfectly with the inner work that I do with my clients around self-regulation, self-awareness, and personal leadership development.
What are your three most positive qualities?
▪ Empathy
▪ Developer
▪ Authenticity
These are my strengths that were highlighted by strengths finder (Empathy and Developer) or part of the essence of who I am (Authenticity).
Can you share an unexpected lesson you’ve learned from a client?
The unexpected lesson learned is that in those times when I felt like I just listened to understand and asked questions, I’ve received transformative feedback. Often times as coaches, we can be tempted to solve problems and direct the flow of the conversation, or we feel as though we didn’t provide enough value. Trusting the process of coaching as a vehicle of change is exactly what our clients need—space to think and process. When I remain fully present and curious, without stepping into the consulting role, my clients excel, and I have truly partnered with my client in a creative process of exploration.
What are some of your go-to resources for staying current in the coaching field?
I’m an avid reader and my library is huge. ☺ I’m an author of an Amazon #1 Best Selling book called Transform Your Brain, One Thought at a Time: Stress Patterns, Anxiety and Overthinking Rewired.
My practice has been enhanced by neuroscience, embodied practices, and conscious leadership principles. My favorite spaces for elevating my skillset come from:
▪ Xchangeappproach
▪ Coaches Rising
▪ Mentor Coach Insights
Share your favorite activities outside of coaching and how they contribute to your overall effectiveness as a coach.
I love walking, hiking, hanging out on my front porch, and playing competitive golf. I find competitive golf is the perfect place to practice self-regulation, directing my focus intentionally, noticing the inner and outer worlds as use different neural pathway to retrain my thought, emotions and patterns. Daily meditation, prayer, moving my body, breath work, and reflection are a part of my daily activities.
Discuss hurdles you met at the beginning of your coaching journey and solutions you found.
Being an entrepreneur is packed with hurdles but maintaining a growth mindset helps me to carry on through the ups and downs of business building. The truth is that it’s sometimes lonely being an entrepreneur. We are constantly stretching ourselves to do hard things.
Coaching is the joyful part of our work—we love helping our clients transform. Most coaches would agree that the business building often is the hurdle. Staying connected to my “why” when the hurdles come along empowers me to carry on even in the challenging moments with a growth mindset.
My message to you is: Your work in this world is important! Don’t give up when faced with hurdles, reach out to your community and search within for wisdom.
What is one opportunity that you get from ICF New Jersey Chapter?
I love connecting with other likeminded coaches to tap into the collective wisdom of our community. New Jersey has some amazing coaches, and we all learn from each other. I always leave energized.
What is the best reward as an ICF New Jersey volunteer?
As a volunteer of the Applying Neuroscience to Coaching Community Group, I’m constantly rewarded by the lightbulbs that go on as we learn, grow and apply together as a community.
Doreen lives in Monmouth County. If you would like to connect with Doreen, join her in the Applying Neuroscience to Coaching Community Group that meets virtually on the second Monday of the month, 12:00pm ET. Additionally, find Doreen on LinkedIn and ICF Engage.
Let’s engage, celebrate, and get involved in our community’s transformation! — Member Engagement
