One ride into the unknown—My threshold story.
I'm Dr. Patrick O'Neill.
I guess you could say I’m a Work Psychologist gone rogue.
For over 15 years, I applied the science and principles of psychology to help address one of humanity’s most intractable challenges – underutilized human potential where we spend most of our purposeful lives – at work.
Then I hit a wall.
Humanity was facing a polycrisis, the world became exponentially more complex, and I met the limits of my discipline. It became painfully clear to me that deep, abiding change would require a fundamental shift in our way of seeing and relating to ourselves and our world.
I had a question that psychology couldn’t answer and it was keeping me up at night...
How do we lead at the threshold?
When the fog of complexity is so thick that we lose our way. When we dis-integrate into a fragment of ourselves. When the knowledge and skills we learned in school fall away.
This one question compelled me to make the most difficult decision of my life – to leave my academic position and the students I loved to embark on a nomadic journey into the unknown.
I sold my stuff, got on a motorcycle, and rode. No timeline. No agenda. One clear intention - to let my intuition and the people I met along the way guide my path.
4 years • 14 countries • countless teachers
What I learned...
Along the way, new ways of seeing, relating and acting in world were unveiled in ordinary moments with ordinary people living from the whole of their being – mind, heart, body, and soul – in service of the whole.
A Buddhist nun in the mountains of Thailand, a pottery maker in Bali, a “motorcycle whisperer” in Big Sur, a sea gypsy in the Philippines, a Shaman in the Brazilian amazon, my own father grappling with dementia, and countless wild creatures who kept me sane and safe.
I returned convinced that leadership is not a position but a moment-to-moment choice – to live in alignment with who we are at our core and the work that is ours to do. To lead at the threshold is to become an integrated, whole human being.
To cross this threshold, we need a radically different kind of leadership education. One that enables a deeper, expanded awareness - to see beyond the edges of our identity, reawaken dormant capacities, and develop the skills and sensibilities needed to find our way when the map is unclear.
That's what I do now.
I work with leaders and teams who have met their threshold and sense there's a different way to live and lead. I curate and facilitate spaces of deep learning and healing for leaders and teams that bring the intellect into coherence, with the sensing, feeling and imaginative capacities that make us fully human.
Organizations I’ve Coached or Consulted:
Organizations I’ve Coached or Consulted:
“Patrick helped me reclaim my own story at a particularly challenging time in my life.”
Founder, Growth Hub Housing
“Patrick’s presence, wisdom and kindness made it easy to show up fully and honestly. I leave our coaching sessions feeling not only inspired but also seen.”
Executive Advisor, Strategy and Commercial
Universities Where I’ve Taught:
Universities Where I’ve Taught:
“Patrick is one of the most influential individuals in my life”
James Houliston
Financial Advisor, Edward Jones
Non-profits I’ve Partnered With:
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Non-profits I’ve Partnered With:
Features
Talks, podcasts, articles and special features
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Podcast
Attention as Activism: The Power of Thresholds
with Rachael Spyker
Retreat
Royal Roads University Residential Retreat
Wayfinding in Liminal Times - Lead Facilitator
Upcoming Presentations
Florence, Italy
I’m excited to be presenting two new psychometric instruments measuring Corporate Social Justice and Workplace Spirituality I co-developed with my incredible graduate students - Breanna Newhouse and Brittany Reardon.
The Shoulders I Stand On
Patrick most recently served as Program Director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at Adler University's Vancouver campus (2013-2019), where he designed curriculum, supervised student research, and led the program's growth from 7 to 23 students per cohort. He currently teaches at Royal Roads University, and has guest lectured for MBA programs at Carleton University, University of Ottawa, Trent University, Camosun College, Curtin University, and the University of Western Australia.
His courses span the full spectrum of organizational psychology, including leadership development, well-being at work, systems change, executive coaching strategic human resource development, applied research methods, and psychometrics.
Patrick's research focuses on the human experience of work, exploring how emotion, meaning, and engagement influence performance and well-being. His specific research interests include:
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The psychosocial dynamics and impact workplace well-being
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The meaning and measurement of human performance at work
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Corporate social justice and social responsibility
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The role of integrated awareness in navigating transitions
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The science and practice of executive selection and development
His peer-reviewed work has been published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and Stress and Health, with additional manuscripts under review at leading journals. He employs sophisticated research methods including longitudinal panel designs, structural equation modeling (SEM), and meta-analytic techniques.
Patrick has presented his research at conferences held by the Academy of Management, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Canadian Psychological Association, and European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology.
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Patrick brings extensive consulting experience working with an unusually diverse range of clients—from social entrepreneurs to Indigenous Elders, CEOs to government ministers, university professors to elementary school teachers. His client portfolio includes:
Humanitarian Organizations: United Nations (UNICEF, World Food Programme), Australia Post
Corporate Clients: Google, Spotify, KPMG, IBM, Shopify, Lululemon, RioTintoAlcan, Corus Entertainment, NAV Canada, Blueshore Financial, Vancouver Whitecaps, IQMetrix
Government: Public Service Commission of Canada, Department of National Defence
His consulting work encompasses organizational development, strategic human resource management, executive coaching, and leadership development. He specializes in:
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Collective leadership development and executive coaching
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Employee engagement and organizational culture transformation
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Competency modeling and succession planning
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Performance measurement and program evaluation
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Whole systems change methodologies
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Earth-based wisdom practices and experiential leadership retreats
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As director of Adler University's MAOP program, Patrick co-created corporate and social justice practicums where students provided over 25,000 hours of consulting services to for-profit, non-profit, and social enterprise organizations across North and South America, Mexico, India, and Africa. This work reflects his commitment to using organizational psychology as a force for social good.
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Ph.D. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia (2012)
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M.Psych. (with distinction) Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Curtin University (2002)
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First Class Honours Industrial and Organizational Psychology, University of Western Australia (1998)
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B.A. Psychology, University of British Columbia (1997)
Certifications:
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Co-Active Coaching (ICF Accredited, Coaches Training Institute)
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Rites of Passage Facilitation (Rites of Passage Institute)
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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
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Internal Family Systems (IFS Institute)
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Compassionate Inquiry (Dr. Gabor Maté)
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Team Diagnostic Survey (Six Team Conditions)
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Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy – Therapsil
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Enneagram Fundamentals – Enneagram Institute
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Certificate in Appreciative Inquiry– David Cooperrider and Ronald Fry
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Training and/or certification in the administration, scoring and interpretation of the following vocational and clinical assessment instruments (2000 - present):
Vocational Assessment
Leadership Circle Profile (LCP), NEO PI-R, SHL OPI, RHTI Enneagram Test, SHL OPQ32r, SHL Executive Aptitude Tests, SHL Wave Styles (Personality) Assessment; Korn Ferry 360, Leadership Assessment, Jackson Personality Inventory, Thomas Killman Conflict Mode Instrument, Team Climate Inventory (TCI), Self-Directed Search, Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), Work Aspect Preference Scale, The Career Architect, Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ).
Clinical Assessment
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), 16PF, WAIS-III, WISC-III, ACER Advanced tests, Ravens Progressive Matrices, Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Differential Aptitude Tests, Eysenck Personality Inventory, MMPI-2, Beck Anxiety Inventory.