GPTA Grof® Level Two Retreat Winter 2025

This is a retreat open to those who have completed a minimum of two Level One Retreats. Topics explored will be Death and Grief. Participants MUST be in the Grof Psychedelic Training stream

Please note that accommodations are not included. There are nearby Airbnbs—just minutes from the venue—be sure to search Peachand area. Additional options include Airbnbs in Westbank and Glenrosa, or hotels in West Kelowna (approximately a 15-minute drive).
Dinner will be provided at the venue each evening prior to the sharing circle. Light lunch, snacks, and beverages will also be provided. (If you have dietary needs that require specific purchasing or preparation there will be an additional charge)
Continental breakfast items will be available at the venue each morning at arrival. Breakfast items on hand will include bread, bagels and condiments, yogurt, fruit, coffee, tea, and water.

In order to make this retreat happen we may be relocating from our usual venue at this location and moving up to the main home due to winter weather challenges. We ask for your flexibility in advance.
We suggest that you arrange carpooling to the retreat location from your accommodation. If your accommodations are further away, and/or you cannot carpool, you will require a vehicle with winter tires.
Location & Access-The retreat takes place in a multipurpose building in a rural setting on private property. If necessary we will move to the lower level of a private residence on the same property. December weather is variable—rain, snow, or sun—so please dress in layers and bring footwear suitable for wet or icy conditions. The driveway is gravel and hilly. Access roads are paved but may be snow- or ice-covered, and the area surrounding the home is gravel. For safety, vehicles should be equipped with good winter tires.

$1,800.00

6 Night Retreat including Meals

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$1,700.00

EARLY BIRD

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Retreat Facilitators and Apprentice(s)

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. 

Neil Hanon MD, FRCPC

Lead Instructor

Retreat Facilitators and Apprentice(s)

Amy Burrell spent her formative years in Brazil and returned to the United States for her higher education. Her experience of two cultures and languages has shaped her world view giving her an appreciation of other cultures and the diversity they bring. Amy has participated in sacred ceremonies for more than a decade and weaves cultural wisdom from these experiences and ongoing international training and mentorships into her work. She began her professional life as a ballet/modern dancer and costume designer. Her appreciation for aesthetics and deep understanding of the body and movement, instilled early on, continue to inform her work. She created art installations working with themes of suspension, timelessness, healing, death and rebirth where participants could experience their own bodies and achieve more self awareness. These themes integrated well into her interest in Grof studies. Amy has a MFA, a BS Dance/Psychology, is a LMT and has has extensive training in trauma-informed holistic healing modalities. Her additional certifications include Grof® Breathwork, Thriving Relationship Coach™, Authentic Tantra® teacher, Reiki Master and SET (structural energetic therapy). She has taught movement and dance at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil and at Indiana University. She is pursuing Grof® Psychedelic Therapists training in Spain while continuing as a practicing massage therapist. She facilitates Grof® Breathwork workshops and is a Teacher of Grof Legacy Training® nationally and internationally. Amy’s enthusiasm for learning, traveling, and experiencing cultures continues to inspired and enrich her life and work. It is her greatest honour to hold space for others in their transformational journey.

Amy Burrell

Instructor

Wendy Fairbanks, B.A., R.M.T., M.A. is a seasoned therapist with over 41 years in private practice as a Massage Therapist and Psychotherapist. Her passion and skill has been supporting individuals through their journey of illness, trauma and loss. Her research in the 1980s was documenting psychological transformation in survivors of terminal cancer. She studied with and was greatly influenced by such prominent teachers as Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Arnie Mindell, Stephen Levine, and Stanislav Grof. What was a keen passion became a profound personal journey following the sudden traumatic death of one of her sons. Holotropic breathwork, journeying with psychedelics, and accessing non-ordinary states of being all helped access a deep well of inner healing. Wendy is currently completing four years of training with the Grof® Psychedelic Training Academy. She is blessed to be now working as a guide and facilitator with breathwork, plant and psychedelic medicines especially for those navigating life transitions, loss and grief.

Wendy Fairbanks

Apprentice