integrated, functional and collaborative Solutions;
Trauma Therapy
Peer to Peer Support
Peer to Peer Support
As part of our vision, a multidisciplinary triage team would help individuals and families better understand their needs and connect with qualified mental-health professionals and appropriate evidence-informed care.
The goal of the triage process would be to help identify the professionals, treatment approaches and other supportsthat may be most appropriate for each individual based on their needs, circumstances and goals.
We recognize that no single therapy, professional or approach will be right for everyone. What works for one person may not work for another.
Through comprehensive assessment, professional expertise, lived experience, collaboration and ongoing evaluation, the triage team would help individuals navigate available options and develop a more coordinated and individualized path toward healing and long-term recovery.
As research and evidence continue to evolve, we would remain open to established and emerging approaches that demonstrate meaningful value, while ensuring appropriate professional guidance and evaluation.
The goal is not to fit the person into a treatment. It is to help find the right approach for the person.
Peer to Peer Support
Peer to Peer Support
Peer to Peer Support
Peer support can provide something unique—the opportunity to connect with people who understand the realities of frontline work and operational stress injuries through lived experience.
Through shared experiences, people can gain insights and perspectives they may not have considered before and learn from the journeys, successes and challenges of others.
As part of the New Hope vision, peer-support opportunities would provide safe, respectful and non-judgmental spaces where individuals and families can connect, share experiences and speak openly with people who understand.
Peer support can help reduce isolation, strengthen connection and remind people that they do not have to navigate their experiences alone.
Where professional mental-health care is needed, peer support should work alongside appropriate clinical care rather than replace it.
Sometimes one of the most powerful forms of support is simply connecting with someone who understands.
Physical Therapy
Peer to Peer Support
Operational stress injuries can affect both mental and physical wellbeing, and the two can often be interconnected.
As part of the New Hope vision, the Mobility Centre would bring together qualified healthcare professionals from different disciplines to help assess and address each person's individual physical-health, mobility and rehabilitation needs.
Depending on the individual's needs and appropriate professional guidance, services could include physiotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic care, osteopathic manual therapy, neurological rehabilitation, acupuncture and other evidence-informed physical-health and rehabilitation approaches.
The goal would be to have professionals work collaboratively rather than in isolation, with physical health considered as part of the person's broader path toward healing and long-term wellbeing.
Healing the whole person means recognizing that physical and mental wellbeing are connected.
Nutrition & Health
Nutrition can play an important role in physical health, mental and emotional wellbeing, energy, sleep and overall quality of life.
As part of the vision for New Hope Field of Dreams, the Nutrition Centre would provide opportunities for individuals and families to learn about nutrition and how dietary choices may support their individual health, recovery and long-term wellbeing.
Qualified nutrition and healthcare professionals could work collaboratively with individuals to better understand their nutritional needs and, where appropriate, develop personalized and evidence-informed nutrition plans based on their health, circumstances and goals.
Education could also explore the relationship between nutrition, physical and mental health, inflammation, metabolism, the gut-brain connection and other biological systems involved in overall health and wellbeing, while recognizing that research in many of these areas continues to evolve.
Nutrition would not be viewed as a replacement for appropriate medical or mental-health treatment, but as one part of a more comprehensive whole-person approach to prevention, healing and long-term wellbeing.
Opportunities could also connect nutrition with other parts of New Hope—including gardening, food growing, harvesting and preparing healthy meals together.
What we put into our bodies is one part of understanding and supporting the whole person.
Eco Therapy & Nature Based Healing
Eco Therapy & Nature Based Healing
Ecotherapy and nature-based approaches recognize the important connection between people and the natural environment and the potential role nature can play in supporting physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
The vision for New Hope Field of Dreams, situated on approximately 133 acres of land, is to create a peaceful natural environment where nature is not simply the setting, but becomes part of the healing experience.
Depending on individual needs and appropriate professional guidance, nature-based opportunities could include:
- Trail walking and time in nature
- Mindfulness
- Nature-based arts and creative activities
- Outdoor meditation and reflection
- Outdoor and wilderness-based activities
- Gardening and working with the land
- Recreation and meaningful outdoor activity
- Interaction with farm animals
These opportunities could complement clinical care, peer support, family involvement and other evidence-informed approaches as part of a more comprehensive path toward healing and long-term wellbeing.
Sometimes healing happens through conversation. Sometimes through connection. And sometimes, nature itself can become part of the solution.
Horticultural Therapy
Eco Therapy & Nature Based Healing
Horticultural therapy uses plants, gardening and nature-based activities to support physical, emotional and social wellbeing and may contribute to healing, rehabilitation, connection and meaningful activity.
As part of the vision for New Hope Field of Dreams, horticultural and land-based opportunities could allow individuals and families to reconnect with nature, participate in meaningful activities, learn new skills and experience the sense of purpose and accomplishment that can come from nurturing and growing something.
Opportunities could include:
- Gardening and horticultural activities
- Planting, tending and harvesting
- Ecological and small-scale farming
- Permaculture and sustainable growing practices
- Arboriculture and tree care
- Culinary and food-growing gardens
- Working with soil and preparing garden beds
- Learning about biodiversity and the natural environment
Where activities are provided specifically as horticultural therapy, they would be appropriately structured and guided by qualified professionals.
These activities could also provide opportunities for families to participate together, creating connection and shared experiences as part of the broader New Hope environment.
Planting something, caring for it and watching it grow can provide opportunities for purpose, connection and renewal.
Equine Therapy
Getting to the Roots of the Injury
As part of the vision for New Hope Field of Dreams, equine-assisted approaches would provide opportunities for individuals and families to experience the unique connection that can develop between people and horses.
Depending on individual needs and professional guidance, equine-assisted programs could complement mental-health care, physical rehabilitation, occupational therapy, peer support and family-based activities.
Where therapeutic services are provided, qualified professionals from appropriate disciplines could work collaboratively to incorporate horses and equine-assisted activities into individualized treatment or rehabilitation goals.
Working with horses may provide opportunities to develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, confidence, communication, trust, boundaries and connection through structured activities and experiences.
Not every interaction with horses needs to be therapy. New Hope could also provide opportunities for individuals and families to simply spend time with horses, learn about their care, participate in barn activities and experience the connection and sense of purpose that can come from working alongside animals.
As with all New Hope approaches, we want to continue learning from research, professional expertise and lived experience to better understand what works, for whom, and under what circumstances.
The horse does not replace the therapist or the treatment. It can become part of the connection, experience and journey toward healing.
Getting to the Roots of the Injury
Getting to the Roots of the Injury
We believe physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing are interconnected, and that meaningful healing can involve looking beyond symptoms and diagnoses to better understand the factors that may be contributing to an injury.
Operational stress injuries can be complex. A person's experiences may be influenced by many factors, including occupational trauma, cumulative exposure, previous life experiences, physical health, relationships, family history, environment, lifestyle and other individual circumstances.
We also recognize that experiences within families and across generations may influence how people respond to stress and trauma. Research into areas such as intergenerational trauma, genetics and epigenetics continues to evolve, and New Hope will remain open to learning as the evidence develops.
Our vision is for qualified professionals, where appropriate, to work collaboratively with individuals to explore the different factors that may be contributing to what they are experiencing.
This is not about assuming there is one underlying cause for every injury or illness. It is about asking deeper questions and looking at the whole person rather than focusing solely on individual symptoms.
By combining appropriate medical and mental-health care with lived experience, education and other evidence-informed approaches, we hope to better understand what may be contributing to an individual's injury and what combination of supports may help them move forward.
Treating symptoms matters. But whenever possible, we also want to understand what is driving them.
Art Therapy & Creative Expression
Creative expression can provide meaningful opportunities for people to explore emotions, process experiences, develop new skills, build confidence and reconnect with themselves and others.
As part of the vision for New Hope Field of Dreams, the Art Therapy and Creative Expression Centre would provide a wide range of opportunities for individuals and families to explore creativity in ways that support connection, self-expression and overall wellbeing.
Where activities are provided specifically as art therapy, they would be facilitated by appropriately qualified professionals and could complement other mental-health and therapeutic supports.
Creative and expressive opportunities could include:
- Painting, drawing and sketching
- Clay sculpting, pottery and soapstone carving
- Photography, digital arts and filmmaking
- Poetry, journaling, story writing, script writing and songwriting
- Music, singing, dance and dramatic arts
- Collaging and scrapbooking
- Knitting, sewing and textile arts
- Carpentry, wood carving and leatherworking
- Metal fabrication
- Pallet repurposing and other creative reuse projects
- Conservation and nature-inspired art
- Camp blankets and other collaborative projects
These activities could be undertaken individually, therapeutically, recreationally or together with family and peers, depending on the person's needs and interests.
Creative expression can also provide opportunities for people to transform difficult experiences into something meaningful, discover strengths and interests, and develop a renewed sense of purpose.
Sometimes what is difficult to put into words can be expressed in other ways.
Pathway to Healing
Temporary Accommodations
As part of the New Hope Field of Dreams vision, a Pathway to Healing would wind through the serenity of the forest and lead toward McLaren Creek, creating a peaceful environment for reflection, conversation and connection.
The pathway could form part of a structured healing program, with different stages representing important aspects of an individual's journey toward healing and recovery.
Along the pathway, small stations or structures would provide places where individuals and their mentor, peer supporter or other appropriate support person could stop, reflect and work through each stage together.
The program could explore areas such as understanding the injury, acknowledging its impact, relationships and family, identity, forgiveness, purpose, rebuilding, hope and moving forward. The specific stages would be developed with input from mental-health professionals, people with lived experience, peer supporters and other appropriate experts.
While the pathway would provide structure and direction, we recognize that healing is individual. People may move through the stages differently and at their own pace.
Surrounded by nature, the Pathway to Healing would create a physical representation of the healing journey—moving forward one step at a time, with someone walking beside you.
Temporary Accommodations
Temporary Accommodations
Temporary Accommodations
Some programs and experiences at New Hope Field of Dreams may take place over several days, creating the need for comfortable and welcoming overnight accommodations.
Our vision includes developing a number of small individual and family accommodations throughout the property, allowing participants to remain immersed in the New Hope environment while taking part in multi-day programs, treatment, activities or family experiences.
The accommodations would be designed to provide privacy, comfort and a sense of safety, while keeping individuals and families connected to nature and the broader New Hope community.
Different accommodation options could be considered to meet the needs of individuals, couples and families, including accessible accommodations for people with mobility or other requirements.
The final number, size and design would be determined through the planning process, taking into consideration participant needs, accessibility, privacy, safety, environmental impact and applicable building requirements.
Healing can take time.
Our vision is to create a place where people and families have the opportunity to stay, connect and focus on their journey without having to leave at the end of each day.