Grof Psychedelic Training Academy

Retreat Support

Neil Hanon, MD, FRCPC, is a psychiatrist based in Kelowna. Recognized for his teaching excellence, Dr. Hanon has received the Undergraduate Psychiatry Clinical Teaching Award from the UBC Department of Psychiatry in 2011 and 2023, along with the Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching from the Faculty of Medicine at UBC in 2018. Dr.Hanon, Neil, got involved in Holotropic Breathwork first as a participant to help with his grief after the death of his 17 year old son. He discovered that conventional psychology and psychiatry had no coherent strategy to help him in his grief. Through extensive reading he discovered Stan Grof’s writing on novel theories of the human psyche and was able to attend a breathwork retreat led by Stan and Christina Grof. He found the breathwork so beneficial for his grief that he continued on training and in 2015 become certified as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator. Driven by his own journey, Neil developed a keen interest in treating grief and spiritual emergence. He co-founded Relief for Grief, which evolved into Jamaica Grief Retreats, offering legal psilocybin mushroom journeys to parents who have lost a child. He also served as the medical director for TheraPsil, assisting patients with End of Life Distress to gain legal access to psilocybin mushrooms. During his time with TheraPsil he was one of 19 Canadian clinical professionals who were granted permission by the Federal minister of Health to legally possess and take psilocybin mushrooms for educational purposes. In 2021 Neil was invited by Stan and Brigitte Grof to co-lead the Canadian arm of Grof Legacy Training International. In late 2023 Grof Legacy Training Canada separated into breathwork and psychedelic streams. Neil leads both the Psychedelic Training, and Grof Breathwork Programs in Canada. With his extensive background of curriculum development and teaching skills has developed the coursework with emphasis on its application to psychedelic medicine work, and Grof Breathwork.


Retreat Support

Shawn is a registered nurse with 20 years of experience in mental health care. He currently serves as the Clinical Practice Lead for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with the Northern Health Authority in British Columbia. Following a transformative psychedelic experience, Shawn was drawn to the work of Stanislav Grof, which provided a powerful framework for understanding his journey. This led him to Grof Breathwork, where he experienced a profound ancestral connection. He is currently completing his apprenticeship with the Grof Psychedelic Training Academy and pursuing a Master’s in Counselling at UNBC. Since 2021, Shawn has facilitated over 1,400 ketamine-assisted therapy sessions and is passionate about mental health innovation and the healing potential of expanded states of consciousness.