About Me

Dr Sharon Riva

Counselling psychologist and psychotherapist

I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist based in Jersey. I am registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health and Care Professionals Council. I worked for many years for the States of Jersey health and Social Services Department as a psychologist, supervisor and trainer before setting up my private counselling psychology/psychotherapy practice in St Helier. I work with clients of all ages and backgrounds, experiencing many different problems, challenges and life events. In 2020 I was awarded a Doctorate of Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy.

I have a deep interest in, and passion for, healing and the human potential for transformation and growth. I’ve worked with various Shamans for many years and through this interest found my way to Holotropic Breathwork. After my first Holotropic Breathwork experience in 2016 I felt I had ‘come home” and since then it has become an important part of my life and self care, supporting me personally and professionally in my client work. For a few years I participated in Holotropic Breathwork workshops and retreats for my personal self care and awareness. It was where I went to recharge, release, nourish and nurture myself. However as a psychologist, I became curious and interested in the model and theory and was drawn to the like minded community. The values, philosophy and compassionate attitude underpinning the Holotropic Breathwork approach resonate deeply with my personal values and how I work. I decided to train as a facilitator and was eventually certified in Colorado, USA in July 2022.

Over the past 8 years I have travelled the world working with the Holotropic Breathwork community in Europe, the UK, Ireland and the USA. I have found that there is great integrity, wisdom , compassion and humility in this work. My intention in introducing Holotropic Breathwork to Jersey is to share this rich, powerful and beautiful practice with my community. I am fortunate to have a team of experienced, interesting and wonderful facilitators/friends who are willing to come to Jersey and support the work.

Team

Holly Harman

Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner

Holly is a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator who offered Holotropic Breathwork workshops in the UK from 2010 to 2020. She has worked around the world supporting the growth of Holotropic Breathwork wherever the call has been – from the Isle of Man to India and China. Holly continues to work as a teacher and adviser for Grof Transpersonal Training and her focus in the UK is now on supporting the next generation of HB facilitators. Holly’s practice as a facilitator is hugely influenced by her friend and teacher, the late Tav Sparks.

Holly Harman has a first degree in Psychology and is a Registered Mental Health Nurse. She worked in clinical and senior leadership roles in various acute mental health settings within the National Health Service for over 20 years.

Deb Harman

Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner

Deb Harman is a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator who over the last ten years has dedicated much of her time to supporting and encouraging the growth of Holotropic Breathwork. She is deeply passionate about the possibilities and hope that this transformative modality offers.

Deb also works for Grof Transpersonal Training and had the privilege of being guided and supported by the late Tav Sparks. Over the next little while Deb hopes to be able to support the new wave of facilitators and continue with this great work.

Neil Harris

Psychotherapist. Child and family psychiatrist

I started out my professional life in a very traditional way, training in medicine, and then specialising in mental health. I worked with children and families as a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist for 30 years.

Alongside that, and over the same period of time, I have practised as a psychotherapist, with Gestalt psychotherapy being my core model.

I have been involved in Holotropic Breathwork since 2016, and have trained in the UK, the USA and in Europe. I became a certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator, completing the Grof Transpersonal Training, in March 2023.

Sally Hayward-Young

Psychotherapist MBACP (Accred.)

I started my professional life in film & television production. Over the years I felt drawn to working with people in a different way. As a result I started working in a Psychiatric Hospital and trained as a psychotherapist.

In about 2016, in need of some CPD hours, Neil & I were drawn to a conference day in London. Here we met Dr Tim Read whose presentation explained Holotropic Breathwork. We went on to try it. We loved it. We found it life changing.

We became passionate about it and started the training. I completed the Grof Transpersonal Training to be a certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator, in March 2023.

Paul McCormack

Psychotherapist

Paul Mc Cormack is an accredited Psychotherapist who has been working in the field of Addiction and Dependency for over 30 years, in addition to being a Holotropic Breathwork certified facilitator.

Paul’s professional experience ranges across his individual counselling and psychotherapy practise to having worked in a number of Rehabilitation Centres and Outreach community clinics plus Paul has also been a facilitator on a variety of aftercare programmes.

Whilst fully endorsing a Harm Reduction approach to the treatment of chronic dependencies and acknowledging the threshold to total abstinence may be too high for some individuals, Paul is a big fan of the self help 12 step communities be they AA, NA, GA, Al-ANon, ACOA and the support and personal development program they offer.

Paul also has a keen interest in the healing potential of Non Ordinary States of Consciousness and their relationship to potential successful outcomes for the management of chronic dependency.

His qualifications are as follows:

Dip ACP, Dip Sa, Dip AC (Trinity College, Dublin), Dip Gestalt (Dublin Gestalt Centre), Dip Jungian Psychotherapy (CG Jung Centre), Dip SE, Dip MP, Dip PM (BIFE, Bray), GTT Facilitator Certification, Trained in shamanic practise.

Tim Read

Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator

Tim Read has been involved with Holotropic breathwork since 2003, qualifying in 2007 and co-facilitating workshops and retreats since. Tim is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author based in London. He was consultant liaison psychiatrist at the Royal London Hospital for 20 years, now retired from NHS. His main interest these days is psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, with clinical research teams and with the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy. Tim is author of Walking Shadows: Archetype and Psyche in Crisis and Growth and co-editor with Jules Evans of Breaking Open: Finding a Way Through Spiritual Emergency and co-editor with Maria Papaspyrou of Psychedelics and Psychotherapy published in 2021.

Melinda Varfi

Holotropic Breathwork® Facilitator

Melinda believes in the power of communities and is passionate about helping them grow to contribute towards a regenerative society. Having worked in different fields of work, she has found that the closest topic to her heart is sustainability – both on a personal, collective and cosmological level. She enjoys engaging with people in meaningful conversations and enabling them to recognize their own true power to make steps towards a more beautiful world that their hearts seek.