About Dr. Diane S. Speier
These are the various skill sets that I have cultivated over the many years of my professional life.
My life’s purpose is to expand consciousness of life’s transitions and facilitate healing for those seeking wholeness.
Therapy
I practice as a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist and strive to help clients develop the skills to master their circumstances and to feel independent as quickly as possible. My BA is in Psychology and my MA is in Applied Psychology, with a specialty in The Psychology of Parenthood.
In addition to my general practice as a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist, as a perinatal psychotherapist I specialize in the psychophysiology of birth, reconciling birth trauma and other unresolved conflicts from previous birth experiences, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD).
Ceremonies
As a celebrant and officiant, I conduct weddings and other bespoke ceremonies for my clients that honor life’s precious moments and transitions. The ceremonies that I have co-created in collaboration with my clients have proven to be emotionally satisfying and community building moments that are genuinely holistic.
Ceremonies are delightful ways of integrating important changes that are happening, marking those changes in a powerful and positive way. These spiritually grounded (non-sectarian) experiences express the personal values and choices of the guest of honor that are intrinsic to the moment being commemorated.
Birth & Postpartum
I became a certified childbirth educator in 1978 and offered birth preparation courses and taught classes in fitness to pregnant and postpartum women for 20 years. I also started attending births as doula in 1978 and have been an enlightened and experienced guide for facilitating birth for my doula clients.
In November 2013, I released the first version of a postnatal app called Digital Doula®. It was the first of its kind, and a rare information resource for postpartum women and their families. Digital Doula®2.0 was released in 2020 as a completely upgraded app that is available in both iOS and Android versions.
In 2019, I published the book Life After Birth: A Parent’s Holistic Guide for Thriving in the Fourth Trimester (Praeclarus Press). Digital Doula®2.0 is the companion to the book, and the sections of the app match the sections of the book and add a couple. And as new information and research becomes available, it will be added to the app to positively supplement the content of the book.
Nowadays, I’ve extracted the decades of work I’ve done as a birth professional into two important workshops for expectant and new parents. One is a way of avoiding birth trauma (Avoiding Birth Trauma: The Missing Link in Birth Preparation), and the other is a prenatal preparation for the postpartum period so you can thrive in the fourth trimester (Postpartum W.E.L.L.N.E.S.S.: Making the Most of Life After Birth). Once you’ve taken traditional birth preparation, you don’t want to miss these additional empowering workshops.
In 2022, I created an online course called 8 Keys for Thriving in the Fourth Trimester, which prepares prospective and new parents for what happens after the baby is born. The 8 modules cover the range of experiences that most parents are unaware will have a profound impact on their relationship and their lives as they make the transition to parenthood. Being prepared for the postpartum period is something that is even more important than preparation for childbirth. As an online course, this is something that parents can dip into as and when they are able.