Di was born in Halifax in 1929 but grew up on Vancouver Island. Perhaps because she was born with clear memories of her immediate past-life, she has always been interested in past lives.

From age 6, her family's annual month-long holiday was spent at an adult meditation resort. Meditation is, of course, one of the many states of trance and if we follow this segue, the most accurate definition of a hypnotic trance is focus.

Focus served her well, for by the time she was 13, her many piano students were bringing home honours from the music college. Di taught piano for 43 years. Another major career was as an animal behaviorist for 26 years where hypnosis and body English are important components. Her other degree is in elocution.

A curious set of circumstances almost forced her full-time into the hypnosis field. Di holds all the degrees possible with the Canadian Hypnotherapy Association. She is a graduate of the training offered by the Association of Past-Life Research and Therapies.

During the nearly 15 years of being on the Board of the Canadian Hypnotherapy Association, Di served as an examiner for several years, after which she wrote a 200-hour course of study for becoming a hypnotherapist. Many therapists from England to Korea are her graduates.

Her unusual logo to non-historians, the portcullis (a castle's inner gate by the drawbridge) is better known in Vancouver than her face. It is her family crest; for Di, it stands for Your Gateway to the Past.

The course synopsis found on her Web site is only for graduates from other schools. At this time, the curriculum for her basic 200-hour course has been omitted from the Web site for the sake of brevity.