dean diamond
Areas of practice
- Chronic Illness
- Chronic Pain
- Creativity
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Death and Dying
- Dreams
- Gender Identity Issues
- Grief and Loss - General
- Grief and Loss - Pets
- LGBTQ Issues
- Life Transitions
- Personal Growth
- Sexuality
- Supervision
- Transgender Identity and Adaptation
Approaches used
- Adolescent Therapy
- Animal Assisted Therapy
- Body Centred Therapy
- Equine Facilitated Therapy (or Equine Facilitated Wellness)
- Expressive Arts Therapies
- Focusing
- Mindfulness approaches
- Nature Based Therapy
- Play Therapy
- Sandplay Therapy
- Somatic Approaches
- Walk and Talk Therapy
Counselling practice website:
https://www.hearthplace.ca/Practice information:
I am a Nature Guided Focusing Oriented Therapist, Sandplay Therapy Intern, and Canadian Certified Counsellor with a Masters of Education in Disability Studies. I offer embodied and experiential forms of counselling in person with individuals of all ages - from toddler to elder. My areas of experience include belonging, body positivity, disability, dreams, gender affirming care, grief, ecological grief, eco-spirituality, embodiment, end of life, hormone readiness, identity, illness, injury, inner conflict, loss, polyamory, queerness, selective mutism, sensory sensitivity, and sexuality.
I work with the impacts of ableism, gender essentialism, heterosexism, sexism, and trans-antagonism. I will support you to explore and navigate the effects of being othered by systemic oppression and social injustice. I accompany you in cultivating a renewed sense of awe, wonder and belonging by helping you create deep relationships with your Self and Nature.
As someone living with persistent pain and sensory sensitivity, I understand how ableism can complicate navigating our modern culture, systems and relationships. Being gender queer identified myself, it is a priority for me that non-binary, gender fluid and other binary-disrupting folks find a safely supportive place to explore here with me, regardless of the reason(s) for coming to therapy.
Having worked within Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing communities I am familiar with Deaf Culture, I have experience working with interpreters, and I am moderately fluent in ASL.
At Hearth Place, the stunning natural spaces and caring atmosphere support you in acknowledging and navigating through the defining experiences that are blocking your personal fulfillment. Guided sessions are thoughtfully designed to help you unplug and reveal, unblock and release, repair and rebound, feel awe and peace.
Hearth Place is located near Duncan on West Riverbottom Road next to the Cowichan River on unceded Quw’utsun Territory in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Join me for a free 30-minute in person consultation and learn how my approach and the Hearth Place environment can help you reconnect with your Self and Nature.
At Hearth Place you can experience and explore the following therapeutic modalities:
Embodied Experiential Dream Exploration allows us to engage deeply with ourselves and explore our inner landscape in an imaginal, resource-full collaboration of discovery and healing. Awaken your sense of Wonder and Awe.
“Dreams have exceptional healing and diagnostic potential. They point to what matters most … and when we attend to them in sessions, it deepens and accelerates the process of psychotherapy.” ~ Dr. Leslie Ellis
Equine Facilitated Wellness is a form of Nature Guided Therapy where Horses can welcome and support us by seeing and connecting with whomever and however we are in each moment. Experience Belonging through Connection.
“These animals have the ability to lead us back into our bodies and truly hold space to allow us to feel and sense what is needed at the time. … This is when shifts in our awareness and consciousness can happen. It’s profound, powerful, deep and gentle.” ~ Kathe Faraci ~ sacredhorse.ca
Focusing Oriented Therapy enables the deep and safe exploration of our internal states, and aids in repairing harms in relationships with self and others. Reconnect with your Self.
“Focusing teaches us to sense inside and be open and curious about whatever we find there. It is a way of being present with ourselves in a non-judgmental manner that allows the body to speak, and thus to metabolize all that we take in that needs to keep moving through us. It prompts us to turn toward our own embodied selves and in doing so, to find the right next step forward.” ~ Dr Leslie Ellis
Nature Guided Eco-Therapy reminds us how to be at home within our own bodies by showing us how we deeply belong in the world. Reconnect with your Deep Nature.
“The land knows you, even when you are lost.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer ~ Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge
Sandplay Therapy brings the depth and breadth of our inner landscape into the tangible realm through the interaction of our hands with sand and water and miniatures. Discover healing through Play.
“Sandplay might be best understood as deep play. … the process of healing starts when we can surrender to play. … play makes it possible to create a bridge between consciousness and the unconscious by loosening up the conscious position and its control. What appears firmly settled and burdensome in the outer life can start moving in play so that new horizons and hopes can emerge.” ~ Martin Kalff
Specialized training:
- Focusing Oriented Therapist (FOT) designation ~ The International Focusing Institute
- Ecopsychology Graduate Certificate ~ Pacifica Graduate Institute
- Expressive Play Therapy Certificate ~ Justice Institute of British Columbia
- Child & Youth Mental Health Post-Graduate Certificate ~ Thompson Rivers University
- Equine Facilitated Counselling ~ Professional Association for Equine Facilitated Wellness
Client fee individuals:
$280 per 80 minute session - Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP) and First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) funded counselling is available.Availability:
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