Experiential Holotropic Breathwork Workshop: An opportunity to work with analogue states

Date: Friday 22nd to Monday 25th October 2021 (three nights)
Arrival: 5pm Friday | Departure: 12noon Monday
Venue: Pallotti College, 80 McNamaras Rd, Wesburn VIC 3799

Please join us for an immersive weekend with Nigel Denning, Dave Misso and Donna Misso.

Holotropic Breathwork was developed by the founder of LSD psychotherapy as an analogue for working with medicine and non-ordinary states

It provides one of the core skills in MAPS training for PAT.

It is a legal and useful method for developing an understanding for working in the emerging paradigm of psychedelic therapy.

These workshops are run by experienced breath workers trained by Dr Stanislav Grof and his wife Christina.

The facilitators have worked in this field for over thirty years

What is Holotropic Breathwork™?

Holotropic Breathwork™ is a practice that integrates insights from modern consciousness research, anthropology, various depth psychologies and transpersonal psychology. The name Holotropic means literally "moving toward wholeness" (from the Greek "holos"=whole and "trepein"=moving in the direction of something).

At the heart of Holotropic Breathwork™ is a belief that we hold within us the resources we need to live fully and deeply and to resolve past traumas, explore creativity or shift emotional blocks. The process itself uses very simple means: it combines accelerated breathing with other elements in a supportive and safe setting. The process is self-directed and the quality and content of experience is unique to each person and for that particular time and place.

Over the centuries, in many different cultures, the breath has been used to access inner resources, whether those resources are needed for healing, recovery, personal exploration or enhancing one’s creativity. While recurring themes are common, no two sessions are ever alike.

"I know of no work that so well incorporates the findings of Freud, Jung and Rank, adding fresh insights, which the methods of those psychotherapists could never have achieved. I do not doubt that many others working in this field would find Dr. Grof’s discoveries a basis for a whole new strategy of research."

- Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The masks of God

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Meet the Facilitators:

Dr Nigel Denning
MA, MPsych

Nigel Denning is a Counselling Psychologist and AHPRA endorsed supervisor. He is the Managing Director of Integrative Psychology and the National Clinical Director of Mind Medicine Training. Nigel has held various management roles and sat on several different Boards of Governance over his career. Clinically, he has been fortunate enough to train with many of the leaders in psychological research and practice, including Dan Seigel, Alan Schore, John & Julie Gottman, Michael White, and Les Greenberg. More recently he has worked with Daniel P. Brown from Harvard Medical School where he has studied attachment and metacognition which are practice interests.

Nigel was introduced to Holotropic Breathwork by the late Alf Foote and his wife Muriel in 1986. Since that time, he has gone on to study with Stanislav Grof and later ran a crisis centre based on Holotropic Breathwork principles with the owner of Grof Transpersonal Training, Tav Sparks. Nigel has had a continuous practice in non-ordinary states since the 1980’s including shamanic training in Peru. A lifelong meditator, Nigel has over the last decade, been working in the tradition of Dzog Chen from the Bon Order, under the guidance of Tibetan and Western teachers.

Nigel is passionate about the opportunity for a paradigm shift in psychological therapy with the development of states of consciousness techniques such as medicine work, meditation, yoga and Holotropic Breathwork.

Dave Misso
BSc (Hons) GDipBA MAppSc(Research) MAPS FCCOUNP, (PhD Candidate)

Dave is a Counselling Psychologist with over 30 years’ experience, having worked in both the public and private sectors. He has extensive experience in working with individuals, couples and families in the area of trauma, abuse and violence and offers training to professionals in both Australia and overseas. Dave is conducting postgraduate research exploring personality and metacognition in perpetrators of domestic violence. His current interest involves incorporating metacognition and body focused approaches across a wide range of presenting issues.

Dave has studied extensively under Stanislav Grof MD and worked closely with Tav Sparks and Grof Transpersonal Training. He is a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator and has facilitated workshops and training modules in Australia, USA, and South East Asia since 2005. Dave integrates systemic practices with insights from modern consciousness research, sensorimotor approaches, and neuroscience.

Donna Misso
BHS DipCSC DipERC

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More about Mind Medicine Australia and Medicinal Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy:

Mind Medicine Australia is Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation working on the use of medicinal psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapies to treat a range of mental illnesses. Mind Medicine Australia exists to help alleviate the suffering caused by our accelerating mental illness epidemic in Australia, through expanding the treatment options available to medical practitioners and their patients.

Unlike current treatments such as anti-depressants, which only manage the illness and can have nasty side effects, psilocybin and MDMA assisted therapies have been scientifically proven to be a safe and effective cure for anxiety, depression, end-of-life stress, addictions and PTSD after just a short treatment program. These medicines are also currently being researched for dementia, eating disorders, OCD and a number of other conditions. Both medicines have been granted Breakthrough Therapy Status by the FDA in the USA to fast-track their approval. This designation is only given to medicines which may prove to be vastly superior to existing treatments.

At Mind Medicine Australia we are dedicated to helping the now global movement to spread this awareness and ensure these medicines are available via the medical system. Please watch and share our 2-minute animation to find out why psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy needs to be available to those who are suffering.

Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

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Disclaimer

Mind Medicine Australia does not encourage or facilitate illegal use of psychedelics or plant medicines. MMA focus is focused on clinical and legal use only supported by the emerging science and legislative processes. Mind Medicine Australia reserves the right to record and publish webinars on various social media platforms. You agree that you will not discuss any names, locations or specific details of illegal use of psychedelics both verbally or via any written forms of communication via Mind Medicine Australia social media platforms (for example facebook, instagram and zoom private and public chat forms during the webinar). Breaches of these guidelines may result in not being able to participate in the event. We thank you for support and cooperation on these matters.

Mind Medicine Australia is focused specifically on the clinical application of medicinal psilocybin and medicinal MDMA for certain mental illnesses.