Clinical Psychologist | Author | Advisor

Dr. Diana Hill

The first truth

What you water, grows

I first encountered the concept of Wise Effort over twenty years ago while studying with Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. During a retreat at his monastery in Plum Village, France, Hanh taught that your life is like a garden; it grows in the direction of what you repeatedly water. 

I was only 19 at the time, and I didn’t fully understand this truth until a few years later when I was in graduate school, questioning my own vocation. I was earning my PhD in Clinical Psychology because I knew I wanted to help people who suffered, as I had, with mental health concerns; yet, by my second year, I was watering seeds of competition and over-drive. Not surprisingly, I relapsed into bulimia. I was watering the wrong seeds.

I took time off from my PhD program and studied at Eldorado Mountain Yoga Ashram. There, I practiced concepts like “effort and ease,” and “strong back and soft heart,” and “diligence and surrender.” I returned to graduate school with a new perspective.

The second truth

Wise Effort

Wise Effort isn’t about doing more, or doing less. It’s about how you are directing your energy. Are you putting effort towards what is fulfilling, or what is depleting?

This became the focus of my career–I shifted the aim of my research toward mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for bulimia nervosa, in collaboration with Debra Safer at Stanford University. And I shifted the focus of attention toward my values of compassion, authenticity, and service. It became less about what I produced, and more about the process.

Along the way, I also encountered ACT–Acceptance and Commitment Therapy–an evidence based approach to human flourishing that follows these same principles. The goal of ACT is not to get rid of your problems, but rather to become more psychologically flexible in them. With ACT, you learn to respond to life as it is, not how you wish it were, and to get out of your own way. Now, I am a lead trainer, alongside ACT’s originator Steven Hayes.

I take a conciliant approach to my work–I don't really believe in staying stuck in therapeutic acronyms (ACT vs. CBT vs. DBT vs EMDR….the list goes on). Instead, I help clients examine the psychological processes that keep their lives narrow, and explore the ones that allow them to become more open, accepting, and fulfilled?

Over the past decade as a podcaster, author, and host of live salons, I’ve been in conversation with hundreds of thought leaders, other authors, scientists, and spiritual teachers about Wise Effort and the truths connected to it:  Where and why we get repeatedly tripped up. Why we overeffort in the wrong ways and undereffort in the places that need our attention. How we get trapped in strange psychological loops that are short-term rewarding but long-term depleting. The science behind inflexible ways of thinking that keep us boxed in inflexible lives. 

I live by these principles myself—as a mother to two teenage boys, a partner to my spouse of over 20 years, a homesteader, and a human just trying to not fall in the same hole for the 100th time. 

The final truth

Freedom is possible for you

I believe in bringing everything to your path, especially the hard things–your divorce, your health challenge, your addiction, your relationship problem, your stress at work.

When you do, you will discover that there is a wiser way of relating to it. Your struggles have something to teach you about you, and what you have to offer to this world. That has been the case for me, and the thousands of people I have worked with. With Wise Effort, it can be true for you as well.

Diana at a Glance

  • B.S. in Biopsychology UCSB, Phi Beta Kappa, Highest Honors

  • Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, University of Colorado

  • Clinical Internship UC Davis Counseling Center

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, La Luna Intensive Outpatient Program

  • Clinical Director, La Luna Intensive Outpatient Program

  • Recent Research Articles (Experiential Attachment Process-based Therapy)

  • Four Published Books

  • Host of Wise Effort Podcast

  • Therapist Trainer (PESI, Praxis, Institute for Better Help)

  • Retreat Leader (Blue Spirit, Esalen, Rancho La Puerta)

  • Meditation teacher (Insight Timer, Groundless)