Holotropic Breathwork Team

Sarah Hirigoyen, MS (England)

Psychotherapist

Holotropic Breathwork®
Facilitator

Rise Harvey

Holotropic Breathwork® Apprentice

Aimon Kopera, MD (Thailand)

Guest Teacher and Grof Breathwork Apprentice

Michael Morton,

Addictions Specialist,

Therapist and Guest Teacher

Haley Schell

Holotropic Breathwork® Apprentice

Dr. Laurane McGlynn, Director

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator

Geoff Fitzpatrick (Ireland)

Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator

Grof Transpersonal Training Guest Teacher

MEET THE HOLOTROPIC BREATHWORK TEAM

Dr. Laurane McGlynn, PsyD is a clinical psychologist who integrates mind/body medicine with holistic approaches to healing and transformation. She holds doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy and Masters degrees in Counseling Psychology and Child and Adolescent Therapy. In addition, she has advanced training and certifications in mindfulness-based stress reduction, somatic resourcing, Vipassana meditation, Family Systems Therapy, Past-Life Regression and Health Psychology. In 2021, she completed training in Mind/Body medicine from Harvard Medical School. In addition, she is currently enrolled in a Masters program in Integrative Medicine. Laurane has earned licensue as a psychologist in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. She is the Director of A Healing Space - A Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.

Laurane is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator and received her Holotropic Breathwork training directly from Stan Grof, MD and the late Tav Sparks, former Director of Grof Transpersonal Training. Laurane has been involved in the Holotropic Breathwork community since 2008 and has been offering Holotropic Breathwork residential double breathwork workshops for the past 1o years. All of Dr. McGlynn's Holotropic Breathwork double breathwork workshops are approved by Grof Transpersonal Training to meet the requirements for in person breathwork sessions for completion of their virtual modules. All of her workshops are also approved by Grof Legacy Training to meet the requirements for completion of the breathwork components of their training.

Tom Francescott, ND is a naturopathic doctor and visionary teacher who blends natural healing wisdom, modern science, mindfulness, and modern consciousness studies to help people transform their lives. He is the founder and director of Dr. Tom’s Tonics, a wellness center and natural pharmac in Rhinebeck, NY. His specialized training includes: Lyme Disease and Associated Diseases, Hormonal and Adrenal Health and Stress Support, Cancer care and Autoimmune Diseases, Detox and Cleansing Programs, Digestive Issues and Gastrointestinal Issues, Mindfulness-based practices such as meditation, breathing techniques, Holotropic Breathwork® and shamanic principles for body, mind, and spirit healing. Dr. Tom is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator and is on the staff of Grof Transpersonal Training, offering Holotropic workshops and training modules in the US and abroad.

John Stockberger is a musician, certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, certified Grof Legacy Training facilitator, Kundalini Yoga and meditation teacher and has a private healing practice. His work focuses on Inner Healer activation through authentic presence and touch, deep relaxation, intuitive guidance, chakra and polarity balancing, connection to Archaetypal realms, guided meditation, profound inner journeying, sound immersion, healing breath, physical, emotional and energetic realignment and release. He has studied with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Buddhist meditation, Qigong, Vipassana, Buddha Dharma and traditional Shipibo Conibo healing in the Amazon rainforest. John received his training in Past Life Regression from Dr. Brian Weiss. He teaches and facilitates Yoga and breathwork workshop in the United States and abroad.

Jeffrey Warren is an advanced healing arts practitioner and instructor trained in more than 20 modalities. He is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator, Kundalini Yoga & Meditation Teacher, Fire Walk Instructor, Ecstatic Dance Facilitator, Sound Healer and Shamanic Practitioner. Jeffrey is an instructor of ThetaHealing®, Integrated Energy Therapy® and Magnified Healing (LI-III), plus holds triple Reiki Master Teacher certificates in Usui/Holy Fire III, Kundalini Reiki and Lightarian Reiki. Additionally he is an Advanced Pranic Crystal Healer, certified in Melchizedek Method Level 5, Access Bars, and has trained in the Arcturian Healing Method® with Dr. Gene Ang, and BioGeomety® with Dr. Robert Gilbert. He has studied with global shamanic leaders and is a student of Sat Nam Rasayan. Jeffrey is deeply committed to personal discovery, spiritual growth and conscious evolution through the healing and spiritual arts. Jeffrey Warren is an advanced healing arts practitioner and instructor trained in more than 20 modalities. He is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator, Kundalini Yoga & Meditation Teacher, Fire Walk Instructor, Ecstatic Dance Facilitator, Sound Healer and Shamanic Practitioner.

Geoff Fitzpatrick is a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator and guest teacher with Grof Transpersonal Training. He has studied psychology in Trinity College Dublin, and is a Graduate of the Milltown Institute of Theology where he studied spiritual enrichment. He has an active interest in modern consciousness research. He has been constructing mandalas for 10 years and is driven to promote the transformative potential of these sacred circles. Geoff f has hosted over 50 MandalaNature© in-person workshops over the last decade in Ireland.

“I have two great passions, one is the exploration of consciousness the other is the construction of mandalas. In effect these are two sides of the same coin. The first time I saw a mandala was about 25 years ago. A group of Tibetan Monks came to Trinity College Dublin. They spent a week creating a magnificent Kalachakra sand mandala. I was mesmerized by the experience, the colors, the shapes and the sound of the chak purs are as vivid in my memory today as they were all that time ago. It was eight years later in that very same university whilst studying psychology I came across mandalas for a second time. I studied the work of Carl Jung and Stanislav Grof both of whom saw the mandala as a powerful psychotherapeutic tool. The depths of the psyche that I touch when constructing mandalas are similar in tonality to those from breathwork. I have borrowed heavily from the map of consciousness drafted by Stan Grof to navigate my way through the experiences activated whilst constructing mandalas.

But the greatest teachers for me have been the shapes themselves – The geometric symbols that date back into our prehistory and their origins dwell in the very fabric of what creates the universe itself. Nothing has exposed me to more mystery or opened me to greater depths of inner experience than working with these symbols. The sum total of my seeking, the knowledge gleaned from the courses, workshops of all kinds, powerful peak experiences and exposure to enlightened teachers can be distilled down to one very simple thing…….I believe there is a greater wisdom available to us at all times. The thing is, this higher wisdom is easier to experience than it is to explain.”

Sarah Hirigoyen, MA is a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator. Sarah was educated in Paris and London. She received a BSc. in Psychology from City University in London and an MA in Psychotherapy. She has always been fascinated in people and has enjoyed devoting her whole working life to understanding them deeper and better. She worked in severe mental health for a while and then went on to train in Integrative Psychotherapy, receiving UKCP and BACP accreditation. Whilst working as a therapist she became curious in the enormous healing power of breathwork and expanded states of consciousness. She received her certification as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator in 2015, and has since then been offering her own workshops with her wonderful spiritual friend Geoff Fitzpatrick. Sarah loves the idea of healing in community and creating a safe space within which healing happens. She hugely credits Holotropic Breathwork and the breathwork community for the breakthroughs and massive upgrades in her life, so it only feels right to bring it to other like minded people. Sarah has a particular interest in neurodiversity.

Tomek Kwieciński is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator. He started his work with Holotropic Breathwork in 2010 and become certified in 2015. He is founder of Holotropic Poland and is very passionate about combining Holotropic Breathwork with traditional deep psychology tools and life coaching. Tomek is also involved in traditional shamanic ceremonies. He has been teaching, facilitating and apprenticing at workshops in USA, Colombia, Japan, Georgia, and 14 European countries. His education includes completing four years at the School of Behavioural Psychotherapy and training in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. He co-works with the Ketamine Clinic in Warsaw, Poland facilitating and integrating sessions for individuals with depression and PTSD.

In 2019, he was invited to become a module facilitator with Grof Transpersonal Training and organizes training modules in Poland. He also completed training in the Transgenerational Therapy School of Anne Schutzenberger. Tomek is the co--founder of Holo Mind -- Psychedelic Therapy Institute in Poland. In addition, he is the author of the book Follow the Call - Therapeutic Experiences in Expanded State of Consciousness.

Yulia Meshoyrer is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator and certified Grof Legacy Training facilitator of holotropic breathwork - technique, developed by Stan and Christina Grof. She holds MA degree in General Psychology (Russia), and MA in Transpersonal Psychology from Sofia University; certified in Spiritual Emergency support and Dream Studies, and trained as Kundalini Yoga teacher and Therapist. Yulia is a founder of “Holotropic Space”, which focuses on facilitating Holotropic states through Breathwork and other modalities and provides Psychedelic Integration and Harm Reduction support. She is a teacher and mentor in Grof Legacy Training US.

Michael Morton, LMFT, CSAT-S, NCGC is a therapist and educator with over 35 years of experience working with individuals, families and couples addressing addictive disorders and trauma. Michael was the former director of the Keystone Center Extended Care Unit for sexual addiction and trauma and enjoyed an international reputation as both a lecturer and therapist. He is trained in Holotropic Breathwork and is a certified psychedelic-assisted therapist and a clinical fellow of The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Dory Perry, MSEd. began her journey with Holotropic Breathwork® in 2001, after attending a weekend workshop led by Stan Grof and Tav Sparks. On the heels of a cancer diagnosis, and driven by the need for meaning and a more expansive perspective, her experience was profound and life affirming/altering. She began attending weeklong, residential Grof Transpersonal Training modules over the course of several years, integrating the work into her life as an ongoing spiritual practice. She has a deep trust in the power of Holotropic Breathwork® and in the inner, ancient wisdom within each of us. In 2005, she was certified as a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator and has since been dedicated to offering the work to others. She regularly leads workshops throughout the U.S. and is also a module facilitator and a teacher in the Grof Transpersonal Training.

Dory has an MSEd, with a focus on writing and literacy. A writer, musician, and filmmaker, she has spent much of her life working in the arts and has a particular interest in the power of writing, sound, and visual storytelling as healing and integrative practices. Originally from the tropics, she now resides in Pittsburgh where she works in higher education.

Ronda Lobsinger, R.P.N., M.A. is a former Registered Practical Nurse and a certified La Leche League Leader where she provided counselling and education to women and health care professionals about childbirth, childcare, and breastfeeding. She was also a member of the Satir Learning Centres of Ontario (SLCO), an organization dedicated to implementing the therapeutic techniques of marriage and family therapist, Virginia Satir. During that time, she studied and trained in the therapeutic technique of family reconstruction. Ronda is certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, having studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof. She has facilitated workshops in Holotropic Breathwork since 1990.

Ronda has a degree in Women’s Studies and Sexuality, Marriage and the Family from the University of Waterloo and worked for many years as the Counselling Coordinator of Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region, providing counseling and support to women and families regarding sexual and reproductive health. In 2009, she completed a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.

Stephenie Purnell, Founder of Spiritus8 ®, is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, Trance Movement™ practitioner, and expert in the use of expanded states of consciousness for healing addiction. Sober since 2010, she credits her recovery to Holotropic Breathwork®, which succeeded where traditional approaches — including AA, therapy, and treatment — could not. For her, Holotropic Breathwork® served as a reorganizing psychospiritual principle, creating new neuropathways and dissolving maladaptive coping mechanisms.

One of only five certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitators in Texas and the only certified Trance Movement™ facilitator in the U.S., Stephenie brings over 15 years of experience and more than 800 hours of training in expanded states. She is known for her ability to create trauma-informed, safe, sacred containers where profound transformation can unfold.

Stephenie previously served as a development officer and national advocate for young people in recovery, including leadership roles at the University of Texas Center for Students in Recovery. While fundraising and leading teams for the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, she remained actively involved in supporting collegiate recovery programs both locally and at the national level. Her capacity to hold space — whether for students, donors, or the dying — reflects the heart of her calling: to witness, support, and honor the moments that shape us – the breaking, the becoming and the beauty in between. She now leads Holotropic Breathwork® and Trance Movement™ retreats across the U.S. and abroad. Passionate about integrating Buddhist understanding of addiction as a cycle of insatiable hunger and thirst, she bridges this lens with expanded-state healing modalities. Through lived experience, she believes that every addictive pattern is reversible through deep psychic change.

Leeza Pachepsky is a psychotherapist and coach with a focus on the integration of body, mind, and soul. She holds a Master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology and has been a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator through Grof Transpersonal Training since 2015. Leeza is also a graduate of the Group Therapy Training program at the Berkeley Psychotherapy Institute (2023) and has completed Practitioner Training in Conscious Embodiment with the International School of Temple Arts.

Rooted in a deep background of mindfulness, movement, and expressive arts, Leeza draws from a wide range of practices—including yoga, contact improvisation, Body Tales, and ecstatic dance. She serves as a guest lecturer in couples therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies and facilitates embodiment workshops that support deep connection and transformation.

Nicole Ferris is a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator with over 25 years experience as a facilitator, activist, breathworker and educator of holistic therapies with a specialization in supporting the treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorders(CPTSD) and End of Life support. She has researched and studied non-conventional applications of cannabis and other plant-based medicines in the areas of mental health, CPTSD/PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and addiction. She has assisted in the startup and development of a number of holistic clinics serving thousands of medical cannabis patients working hard in the area of education and harm reduction of therapeutic applications of medical cannabis.

Nicole has consulted on and facilitated over a thousand private and group therapies supporting non-ordinary states extensively in Canada, United States, Costa Rica, and Jamaica working with medical doctors, mental health professionals, cancer patients, front-line workers including RCMP, first responders, corrections officers, fire fighters, and Canadian and American veterans. Nicole supports several Indigenous Tribes in Canada, Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Jamaica. Nicole also has supported best-selling authors, international models, movie directors, musicians, and professional sports athletes, as well as co-facilitated non-
ordinary states therapeutically at various wellness retreats.

Vera Hanakova has been involved in the Holotropic Breathwork community for the past 25 years. During that time, she was personally trained by Stan Grof and Tav Sparks. Vera is a Holotropic Breathwork apprentice with Grof Transpersonal Training..Vera has a passion for yoga and received her 200-hour teacher training certificate from Sadhana College of Yoga. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at SUNY (State University of New York.) Vera brings a warm and gentle approach to her role as a facilitator and is dedicated to supporting others in their healing work.

Aimon Kopera, MD, is a trailblazing leader in mind-body medicine. With over 30 years of experience, she has worked across diverse
disciplines, including lifestyle medicine, psycho-spiritual health and consciousness exploration. Early in her career, she served with the
United Nations medical team. As Thailand’s leading expert in psychedelic medicine, Dr. Aimon is a MAPS-certified therapist and has trained under the Grof® Legacy Training program based on Stan Grof’s research into psychedelic therapy, Holotropic Breathwork, transpersonal psychology and spiritual emergency. Her work integrates techniques that guide individuals on a transformative path of self-discovery, healing and expanded consciousness.

Dr. Kopera introduced the Gross National Trauma Index (GNT), a groundbreaking framework inspired by Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index. The GNT will quantify the societal burden of trauma across psychological, social, and economic dimensions. This is a radical shift, bringing trauma out of the shadows and putting it squarely on the agenda of global policymakers.

Lisa Gilbert, MD has long been fascinated by extraordinary experiences—her own and those shared by others. As a board-certified psychiatrist with decades of clinical practice, she cultivated a gift for working with trauma survivors, many of whom described profound non-ordinary states of consciousness. By honoring these stories and embracing deep psychospiritual inquiry, Lisa helped clients move beyond symptom relief toward lasting wholeness.

Her personal healing journey through Holotropic Breathwork® (HB) involved trauma recovery, expanded states of awareness, and encounters with shamanic and transpersonal phenomena. During this process, she trained directly with Stanislav Grof, MD, the creator of Holotropic Breathwork® and a pioneer in transpersonal psychology and psychedelic research. Lisa later became certified in both Holotropic Breathwork® and Dreamshadow® Transpersonal Breathwork.

Soul Can You is her first book: a shamanic offering rooted in lived experience, sacred transformation, and the mystery of the soul’s unfolding. What if your trauma held the key to your transformation? In Soul Can You, Lisa offers a deeply personal—and profoundly mystical—exploration of trauma, healing, and spiritual awakening through expanded states of consciousness. Drawing from her own experiences with Holotropic Breathwork® and nonordinary states, she invites readers to answer the soul’s call to heal, awaken, and reconnect. Lisa weaves decades of clinical insight with ancestral wisdom and raw lived experience, guiding readers through the terrain of childhood trauma, spiritual emergence, and the longing for wholeness. It explores the soul’s journey from fragmentation to reconnection with the Higher Self—and reveals how true healing is not only recovery, but also transcendence.

Dr. Kimberly Lee is a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapist with a doctorate in Sports & Performance Psychology, a Masters in Health Sciences and a graduate certificate in Clinical Mental Health. She is an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills trainer and a certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She is a life-long learner, passionate about exploring new places, being in nature, and creating community. She is grateful to be allowed to witness and support people’s deep journey work, as she herself has been witnessed and supported by others on her own journey, allowing her to re-connect with her true self and inner healer.

DiVina Pridham (PMHNP-BC) is a Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who diagnoses and treats people with mental illness and substance addiction. Most recently, she has been researching and studying opioid use disorder stabilization, discontinuation and relapse prevention. Previously, DiVina was a registered nurse at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. Her nursing experience includes ICU, Operating Room, post-anesthesia care unit, psychiatry and part-time occupational RN for the FBI. Before coming to the United States in 1988, she was a practicing Doctor of Optometry.

In the years leading up to January 2018, DiVina was experiencing a profound need for deep self-exploration. DiVina's described her first Holotropic Breathwork session as “amazing.” She reported that it opened up a vista in her psyche through the breath. “I experienced a vibrant unseen world. I met, talked, and walked with my guide in this state and experienced liberation.” “I decided to train to be a part of this compassionate work because I wanted to participate in the experience of others as they discover their inner landscape, inner healer and self- liberation.” DiVina is currently in the Grof Transpersonal Training Program training to become a Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator.

Giulio Passarelli is an Italian Breathwork facilitator and he is currently undergoing further training in Grof Breathwork with the GLT (Grof Legacy Training) in the United States. He is also learning the T.R.E. (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) method which he often uses both to prepare for and to integrate breathwork sessions. He discovered breathwork in 2020, after years of practicing yoga and meditation both individually and in groups during his time in India and the UK, and it was immediately "love at first sight." In a way, he instantly felt that this modality was the missing piece in his journey of personal, spiritual, and healing development. By combining this practice with psychotherapy and other integration methods, breathwork has remained his primary tool for connecting with himself, his creativity and it has become a kind of safe anchor in turbulent and unpredictable times we are living through. Both his academic and professional background in social anthropology and landscape design—mainly in the UK and the Netherlands, where he lived for over a decade after returning home to Italy. These subjects have enriched his current practice and deepened his understanding of the importance of both human connection and our bond with the natural world around us which is so vital yet so much in underestimated as well as under threat in our modern urban world.

Giulio continues to design natural gardens and landscapes with a naturalistic approach and a strong ecological focus for both people and wildlife to coexist. At the same time, he has recently started to organize small, intimate international breathwork and integration workshops in nature outside Bologna at his house. In a way his aim through his practices is to be working on both the outer landscape and the inner landscape that people inhabit and to help that process of reconnection to oneself and to the nature that surrounds us.

Suzanne Trembley, MA (Holotropic Breathwork apprentice) has traveled the world from China, Japan, India passing by Europe, the Middle East and South America. Her curiosity for what is our essence has led her to earn a Master’s degree in Politics, compelled her to learn foreign languages, and contributed to her interest in health practices such as Ayurveda and herbalism. She studied under Thich Nhat Hanh and is a Vipassana meditation practitioner. She became interested in Holotropic Breathwork when she earned a Master’s degree in Health Arts and Science on the subject of spiritual trauma among first responders and entheogens therapy. She attended certification in Tasmania under the supervision of Vicky Nicholson. Suzanne is completing the requirements for certification as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator. Suzanne is presently working on a PhD in Grof Studies. She is exploring the nature of enchantment as a sustainable tool to healing and meaning.

Angelo Giordano, LMT is a Holotropic Breathwork Apprentice and Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and a Licensed Massage Therapist in Connecticut and New York. For the past two decades he has offered deep tissue, sports, and Swedish massage, as well as neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, acupressure, craniosacral therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, and Jin Shin Jyutsu® in his massage practice. Additionally, Angelo is a Certified Life Coach with the International Coaching Federation. Angelo’s Holotropic Breathwork journey began in 2009. In 2023 he completed all the modules for certification as a facilitator and has been trained by Stan Grof and Tav Sparks. His passion for Holotropic Breathwork allows him to hold sacred space for others.

Haley Schell PT, DPT is a GTT Holotropic Breathwork Apprentice. She practices physical therapy in the state of Pennsylvania and js a Certified Associate Pranic Healer. Her own healing journey led her to Holotropic Breathwork after a personal loss. She attributes great healing and transformation to the work and the Holotropic Community. She is participating in the training program to become a GTT Holotropic Breathwork facilitator so she can support and hold space for others in their own healing and growth journeys.

Kelly Little is a Holotropic Breathwork Apprentice. "The healing nourishment that plants, yoga, meditation and energy work continues to bring to my mind, body and soul is what inspired me to create an Integrative Health Mentoring business." Kelly is an experienced 500 hour, trauma-informed registered yoga teacher, National Board Certified Teacher, Quantum Touch practitioner and holistic nutritionist. She received Usui, Holy Fire III and Shamanic Reiki through the Master Teacher levels, as well as taken a deep-dive into the practice of Qigong, meditation, and the unseen world of energies.

Rise Harvey began his training to become a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator in 2022. Following two decades of experience with the transformational power of breathwork, he desired to share the healing capacity of this powerful practice with others. Rise is a life-long yogi and completed his 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2020. He has been trained in psychodrama, co-counseling, and energy work modalities (Jin Shin Jyutsu and Reiki). He has over 20 years of men's work experience and facilitates men's programs. Rise thrives with somatic modalities of healing and loves the release and connection in dancing 5Rhythms and Biodanza. He is a father of three, a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, a graduate from the University of Connecticut and resides in the Pioneer Valley area of Massachusetts.

Sazraith Ferguson, MA discovered their natural affinity for expanded states of consciousness in their first Holotropic Breathwork workshop. By their second workshop, they knew they wanted to be a facilitator and they currently serve as an apprentice. As an ever-curious, fluid being, they're an ongoing student of sound yoga and energetics, as well as Vajrayana Buddhist philosophy and practice as taught by Lama Tsultrim Allione. Additionally, they hold an MA in English with a concentration in professional and technical writing and are a writer and author of science fantasy novels.