Close-up portrait of David Allan Lane, Ph.D., smiling, with his hand resting against his temple

About David

Psychotherapist, coach, and lifelong student of compassion

For nearly fifty years, David Allan Lane, Ph.D., has sat with people in suffering and in transition. He has worked as a psychotherapist, a hospice and grief counselor, a teacher, and a coach.

He holds a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapies. He is the author of The Jewel of Suffering: On the Way to Compassion.

He works with those who are facing crisis and trauma, those who are searching for spiritual purpose, and those who are ready to create
what is true to who they are.

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How We Work

We examine what arises,
and we handle it together

The Book

The Jewel of Suffering

The Jewel of Suffering: On the Way to Compassion grew out of a ten-year investigation into whether compassion is something we are born with or something we learn. David drew on his own experience and on his work with fifteen research participants.

Its conclusion leans toward compassion as innate. Its lesson is a practical one: that when we are willing to face suffering, our own and one another's, we can offer compassion in place of pity, and real connection becomes possible.

Background & Training

Five decades of practice

Education & Coaching

  • Coaching for Performance, Canada Coach Academy, Toronto, 2019–2021 (1,700+ hours)
  • Seminar facilitator, Non-Violent Communication
  • Fluent in German and EnglishCoaching ist auch auf Deutsch möglich.
  • Ph.D., Transpersonal Psychology & Expressive Arts Therapies, 2013

Healing & Crisis Work

  • Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
    and Dialectical Behavior Therapy training,
    Riverside Department of Mental Health, 2015–2018
  • Clinical psychology internship, Puyallup Tribal Treatment Center, 2016–2017;
    violence-intervention training and domestic-violence assessment, 2016–2018;
    peer support training, 2015
  • Grief and hospice-care counseling, Palm Springs, 2016–2018
  • State-licensed Heilpraktiker (naturopathic practitioner), Berlin;
    naturopathy training at the Naturopathy Institute of Montreal, 2000–2001
  • Licensed massage therapist, 1979–2015; Rolfing and Feldenkrais training;
    yoga, mindfulness, and somatic breathwork instructor
  • Teacher at Verdun Elementary School, Montreal, 2001–2002,
    working with children with behavioral challenges, autism, and PTSD

Art, Voice & Teaching

  • Founder & Head Instructor, Artis Studio Berlinsubtext & voice development for musical theater
  • Director & Teacher, Art Department, Erasmus International School,
    Potsdam, 1997–2000
  • Voice and stage instructor, Hochschule der Künste, Berlin (1985–1988)
    and Musik Schule Wilmersdorf, Berlin (1986–1999)
  • Vocal training in Los Angeles, 1974–1984,
    and musical theater performance and subtext, 1980–1984
A painting of a Buddhist monk in orange robes seated beside the sea under a purple and pink sky

We start with an inquiry, and proceed according to where you want to go and what's blocking you. Reach out below to get started.

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