Richard Osler, Poetry Therapist

Guest Speaker, Self-Discovery Workshop Facilitator

 “Fifteen minutes can shift a life. I have watched countless people, many who have never written a poem, read out their words as if it wasn’t them but some intimate stranger who had written them. And not just a poem but, in most cases, a mysteriously insightful love letter to the self.”

Richard
  • Experienced, Engaging and Deeply Intuitive Poetry Writing Facilitator

  • Extensive experience of working with people with addictions and helping them transform their life

  • Graduated with an Honours English Major; was a journalist of the national newspaper

  • Comes from the financial analyst background

  • An active corporate and not-for-profit board member and co-founded Heal Canada, a Canadian charity supporting women and children in Africa

Professional Years of experience: 11 years         

Who Am I?

Richard’s life-focus is poetry and its healing impact on the human spirit.  Being a poet himself, Richard masterfully uses poetry to help people explore their inner world and to discover what’s deep down in their heart and soul, what they are searching for, what their most secret dreams and needs are. You do not need to be a poet to write a poem, and you do not need to have any experience in poetry to participate in Richard’s workshop. It is truly amazing to see how one can bring to the surface something they totally did not expect they would. This is what we see in each workshop with Richard. Being so engaging, fascinating and interactive, these workshops are a gift of love!

Richard graduated with an Honours English Major from Queens’s University in Kingston, Ontario, became a journalist for the national newspaper the Financial Post out of Toronto and Calgary, then an oil and gas financial securities analyst for a major regional brokerage firm before forming his own specialty money management firm, Aequanimitas Inc. in 1991. And during this time Richard was also a national business columnist on a freelance basis for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s morning radio program Morningside.

In his early 50’s Richard yearned to go back to his literary roots and his love of poetry. He began attending poetry workshops in the US and Canada before starting his own poetry writing workshops. It was at one of those that a counselor at a local drug and alcohol recovery center asked Richard to work with addicts. He has now been doing his healing work since 2007 with more than three thousand addicts and their loved ones while continuing to offer poetry retreat intensives for writers and high school students.

Richard has been an active corporate and not-for-profit board member and co-founded Heal Canada, a Canadian charity supporting programs for women and children in the Great Lakes region of Africa, including DR Congo and Rwanda where he has travelled extensively. Currently he is a board member of the Government House Foundation of B.C. which supports the programs of the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. He remains an avid reader and travels widely around the world.

In July 2013 Richard, who now lives in Duncan, near Victoria, B.C. retired from his money management business so he can focus on his poetry work full time. In addition to working at the Fresh Start, Richard travels and presents his unique workshops internationally.

Your Health Retreat Will Be a Life-Changing Experience

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