Christian Speakers for Faith, Resilience & Healing
Some speakers talk about resilience. Brian Dickinson lived it at 29,035 feet — and his wife JoAnna, a Christian counselor, has spent her career helping people heal from what life does to them. Together they bring one message to churches, Christian universities, and faith conferences: God is present in the worst of it, and there is a way through.
Two stories. One message.
On May 15, 2011, roughly 1,000 feet below the summit of Mount Everest, Brian’s climbing partner became ill and turned back. Brian continued alone and reached the summit. Then he lost his vision to snow blindness. Alone, low on oxygen, unable to see, he descended for seven hours to high camp — the highest solo blind descent ever recorded — navigating by training, by feel, and by faith.
Before Everest, Brian served six years in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Rescue Swimmer, including two deployments to the Persian Gulf. The rescue swimmer’s creed is simple: so others may live. He has carried that creed into every chapter since — as an author (Blind Descent), and as a speaker to corporate, military, and faith audiences.
JoAnna Dickinson comes at the same ground from the other side. She is a Christian counselor (MSW) who works with mental health, marriage, and spiritual recovery — the long, unglamorous work of healing after trauma. She is co-author, with Brian, of Calm in the Chaos.
Put them on a stage together and an audience gets both halves of the story: what it takes to survive the crisis, and what it takes to heal after it.
The program: Faith, Resilience & Healing
Brian and his wife JoAnna — Christian counselor (MSW) and co-author of Calm in the Chaos — share a message of resilience, faith, and healing after trauma, pairing firsthand survival experience with professional insight into mental health, marriage, and spiritual recovery. For churches, faith conferences, Christian universities, and any audience where faith is part of the conversation.
What audiences take away:
- How faith holds under real pressure — not in theory, but in a crisis where the plan has already failed
- Why healing after trauma is a process, and what that process actually looks like from a counselor’s chair
- How couples and families carry hard seasons together instead of apart
- Practical steadiness for the descent — the part of the story that comes after the summit
Brian and JoAnna have brought this program to Christian universities across the United States and Canada, including Grace College, SAU, Cedarville University, and Redeemer University.
Topics Brian & JoAnna speak on
- Resilience — enduring hard seasons without being defined by them
- Overcoming adversity — when the plan changes, adapt and keep moving
- Trusting God — faith that holds when you cannot see the way down
- Letting go and surrender — releasing what you cannot control without giving up
- Healing after trauma — the survivor’s experience and the counselor’s roadmap, together
- Faith and marriage — carrying crisis as a couple; strengthening relationships under strain
- Finding purpose through faith — an authentic perspective on overcoming adversity, strengthening relationships, and finding purpose through faith
A Christian speaking couple — with a different assignment
Most couples who speak to Christian audiences speak about marriage: retreats, date nights, communication. That is good work, and Brian and JoAnna touch marriage honestly — crisis either pulls a couple apart or welds them together, and they know both pressures firsthand.
But their assignment is wider. They are the couple a church, campus, or conference calls when the subject is heavier: trauma, loss, fear, a diagnosis, a deployment, a season that broke something. One of them survived it. The other helps people heal from it professionally. Very few speaking couples can stand in both places at once — the rescue swimmer who went blind on Everest and kept descending, and the counselor who can explain, gently and biblically, what healing actually requires.
If your audience is walking through something hard — or preparing people who will — this is the conversation Brian and JoAnna bring.
Who invites Brian & JoAnna
- Churches and church leadership conferences
- Christian universities and colleges (chapel, convocation, student life) — see the Christian university page
- Faith conferences and retreats
- Schools of nursing and healthcare programs at Christian universities
- Military and first-responder faith communities
- Corporate faith and employee-resource programs
About Brian
Brian Dickinson is a former U.S. Navy Aviation Rescue Swimmer, Everest mountaineer, and bestselling author of Blind Descent. He served six years in the Navy with two deployments to the Persian Gulf. In 2011 he solo-summited Mount Everest and, after losing his vision to snow blindness at the summit, completed the highest solo blind descent ever recorded. He co-authored Calm in the Chaos with JoAnna and hosts the Calm in the Chaos podcast. His working principles, learned in the Navy and on the mountain: trust your training; control what you can; don’t let panic make the decision; when the plan changes, adapt and keep moving.
About JoAnna
JoAnna Dickinson holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington and has spent more than 25 years in the social services field. She serves as a Christian counselor through Church on the Ridge, helping individuals and families work through anxiety, depression, relationships, and personal struggles. She also serves as a domestic violence advocate for Brave Spirits at Trail Youth Coffee in North Bend, Washington, and as an international mentor with the Wilberforce International Institute. She is co-author, with Brian, of Calm in the Chaos. On stage with Brian, she brings the other half of the story: what healing after trauma actually involves, how faith supports it, and how couples and families come through hard seasons stronger.
Frequently asked questions
What do Brian and JoAnna speak about?
Their joint program, Faith, Resilience & Healing, covers resilience, overcoming adversity, trusting God, letting go and surrender, healing after trauma, and faith and marriage — pairing Brian’s firsthand survival experience with JoAnna’s professional counseling insight.
Who is the program for?
Churches, faith conferences, Christian universities and colleges, schools of nursing and healthcare programs, and any organization seeking faith-based speakers on resilience and healing.
Can Brian speak on his own?
Yes. Brian’s individual keynote programs — including his Everest leadership keynote — are on the main speaking page. This page covers Brian and JoAnna together.
What does it cost to bring Brian and JoAnna to our event?
Speaking engagements are customized based on the event, audience, format, and location. Contact Brian’s team to discuss availability and receive a personalized proposal.
How do we check availability?
Use the inquiry form and tell us about your event — date, audience, and what you’re hoping the session will do for them.