About Grof® Legacy Training USA
Grof® Legacy Training USA is the United States branch of the international Grof® Legacy Training program established in 2020 by Stanislav and Brigitte Grof. Our mission is to offer transformative education and training in Grof® Breathwork, the form of holotropic breathwork now authorized by the Grofs, and in Grofian Psychedelic Assisted Therapy.
Grof® Legacy Training USA works in collaboration with the international community of educators and facilitators authorized by Stan and Brigitte Grof to carry the Grof lineage forward into the 21st Century. In the US, we are particularly interested in building connections with professionals in related fields and in supporting our participants in developing cultural awareness and group facilitation skills necessary to build a diverse community in a challenging world.
Please get to know our US sister organization, Grof® Legacy Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which offers workshops and educational programs under the leadership of longtime Grof lineage carrier, Diane Haug.
Our Offerings
Meet Our Team
Our team consists of experienced facilitators, educators, and leaders who are passionate about the power of Grof® Breathwork and the broader Grof Legacy.
Jay Dufrechou
Director
After growing up in New Orleans, Jay attended Stanford University for an undergraduate degree in English with Emphasis in Creative Writing, followed by Law School at U.C. Berkeley. His legal career in California included big firm work in employment law and several years as a Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County. In 1999, Jay moved to Montana with his family and has worked in the Montana workers’ compensation system, often as a mediator. In the mid-90s, experiences of “spiritual emergence” changed Jay’s understanding of the cosmos and his place in the scheme of things. To follow and integrate these experiences, Jay enrolled in the doctoral program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP), now Sofia University, earning a doctoral degree in 2002. His dissertation involved experiences of grief, weeping, and other deep emotions in response to connection with nature, earning one of the 2002 Sidney Jourard Awards offered by the Humanistic Division of the American Psychological Association. From his dissertation emerged the book, Moving through Grief, Reconnecting with Nature (better titled, Grieving for Nature, Grieving for Self.) Since 2002, Jay has worked part-time in teaching capacities for various transpersonal-oriented institutions, including supervising dissertations. In the mid-90s, Jay first experienced holotropic breathwork, including powerful experiences that remain with him to this day. He found the work of Stanislav Grof as a means for integrating his experiences and framing his changing understanding of human psychology, our potential for transformation and evolution, and our heritage as beings grounded in community and connection to spirit. In the mid-2000s, Jay returned to breathwork, eventually certifying as a holotropic breathwork facilitator in 2015 through Grof Transpersonal Training. He has worked on breathwork facilitation teams in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and India. Although a tail-end baby-boomer, Jay did not experience psychedelics until his 50s, following much experience in navigating nonordinary states through breathwork and other ways of finding connection with spirit and internal intelligence. In the last several years, working with psychedelic medicines has been an integral part of his personal and professional path. Jay now works closely with Stan and Brigitte in developing international programs in facilitation of holotropic breathwork, known as Grof® Breathwork in our programs, and in Grofian Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. He is honored to act as Director for Grof Legacy Training USA, the branch of Grof Legacy Training in the United States. When not traveling for work in Grof programs, Jay divides his time between Helena, Montana, and Panama City Beach, Florida, where he lives with his partner Rob Sharp. Jay is the proud father of three children and “papa” to three grandchildren.
Marianne Murray
Senior Faculty
Marianne is an eclectic and experiential practitioner in the field of learning. Her academic studies include master’s degrees in transpersonal psychology and mindfulness-based psychotherapy and a doctoral degree in transformative learning and change in human systems. Integral to her work has been her training with Stanislav Grof – she completed the Grof Transpersonal Training in 2001, is a certified GROF® Breathwork facilitator, and has facilitated holotropic breathwork in the US, UK and Europe, Kenya, and India. She is certified also as a facilitator of Bert Hellinger’s systemic constellation work and completed her training as a massage therapist, both of which inform her practice as a facilitator. Marianne had the good fortune to study with Stan during the mid-1990s, both in breathwork training and as a student at CIIS. Living into Stan’s insights on the nature of consciousness and his cartography of consciousness catalyzed not only deep personal healing, but also radically informed her work with group facilitation in the field of personal learning and change. A faculty member at the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Marianne has been intimately involved with the development of their Leading by Being curriculum and helped to establish the Academy’s overall pedagogy. Topics that motivate her include: somatic awareness as an integral aspect of learning (and un-learning) as we explore unconscious, and semi-conscious, beliefs and biases. The role of facilitator presence in individual and group learning and healing. Now in her mid-70s she can’t help but ask, too, what is the conscious completion of a life’s journey? Marianne is senior faculty/teacher for the GROF® Legacy Training USA, serves on the Board of Directors for GROF® Legacy Project, and is a Mind and Life Fellow.
Amy Burrell
Faculty
After living in Brazil for the first sixteen years of her life, Amy Burrell moved to the United States to pursue her career in dance. During her twenties, she also studied massage therapy and design, expanding her work into costume design and bodywork. Amy returned to Brazil in 2011 with her family for a one year stay. While there, she began working with Ayahuasca regularly. After returning to the US she was guided by friends to look into Stan Grof’s breathwork as a way of integrating some of the big spiritual openings happening in her life. She attended a module taught by Stan in Taos, New Mexico and immediately knew she would be working with this modality for the rest of her life. Amy has a Masters of Fine Arts, a BS in Dance/Psychology, and is a Licensed Massage Therapist. She also has extensive training in trauma-informed holistic healing modalities. Amy’s additional certifications include 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. Amy is certified in Grof® Breathwork and in Grof® Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. She facilitates Grof® Breathwork workshops and is a Teacher in Grof Legacy Breathwork and Psychedelic therapy Trainings® nationally and internationally. Amy’s enthusiasm for learning, traveling, and experiencing cultures continues to inspire and enrich her life and work. It is her greatest honor to hold space for others in their transformational journey.
Colleen Reid
Faculty
Colleen Reid is a Grof® Breathwork Facilitator and currently serves on faculty for Grof® Legacy Training U.S.A. Colleen holds a B.A. in psychology from Dartmouth College and a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University. For decades, Colleen was committed to a career in conservation. In addition, she competed at the World Cup and Olympic level in the sport of skeleton. Colleen’s life changed after a powerful spiritual emergence and life-changing spontaneous awakening that informs her current work. In the years that followed, she turned her full attention to studying the nature of consciousness. Her own experiences align with Stan Grof’s holotropic philosophy of healing and transformation. She became a Certified holotropic breathwork facilitator in 2015. She later founded BodhiBreath® which offers teaching, spiritual coaching, psychedelic integration and breathwork workshops in Southern California, Arizona, and Colorado. Colleen also completed a year-long certification in global mysticism with Mirabai Starr and Andrew Harvey. She served on the Advisory Board for the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. As a facilitator and teacher of Grof® Breathwork, a writer, a poet, a naturalist and mother of two young adults, Colleen uses her long career and life experiences to inform her approach to healing and wellness.
Kerry Marumoto
Faculty
Kerry Marumoto (GLT faculty member, GLT certified facilitator) began his immersive journey with breathwork in 2010, as he was navigating the turbulent waters of his spiritual emergency. His work with a clinical psychiatrist proved informative and helpful, but the underlying angst and physical symptoms would not subside. Remembering a series of profound mystical experiences that he encountered during a men’s retreat a few years prior, one of which was during a breathwork session, he sought out a practitioner. At the end of a weeklong retreat on the island of Moloka’i, and 6-breathwork sessions later, Kerry experienced a significant shift in his physical symptoms. Following another retreat a year later, he entered into a 2-year apprenticeship training to learn facilitation of Leonard Orr’s lineage of Rebirthing Breathwork. Kerry became intrigued by the transformative healing qualities he was experiencing through breathwork and wanted to better understand the underlying mechanisms at play. Towards the end of his apprenticeship, he encountered the work of Stan and Christina Grof through their book Holotropic Breathwork. Reading the book was revelatory for Kerry and it opened his field of awareness to Grof theory and the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Reading Holotropic Breathwork piqued his interest and Kerry attended two consecutive modules of Grof Transpersonal Training and his first experiences with holotropic breathwork. During the first week, it became apparent to him the qualitative differences in the training format with a focus on Grofian theory and the foundational holotropic approach to breathwork, which he felt contributed to deeper, transformative healing during his breathwork sessions. Kerry certified in 2015, after 2-years of attending training modules. Post-certification he continued his training by apprenticing with senior teachers in the training modules for another several years before facilitating on GTT staff. In his professional career, Kerry was involved in the ski and outdoor industries as a marketing executive and currently lives in the ski town of Ketchum, ID. His passions lie in exploring his inner realm, spending time in wild places, hiking in the mountains, whitewater kayaking, backcountry skiing, backpacking, rock climbing and spacious time in solitude. Kerry now serves on faculty for Grof Legacy Training and is honored to be involved with the launch of the U.S. program.
Renn Butler
Faculty
Renn was raised in a fundamentalist family until his parents left the church, impelled by the civil rights movement, and started a back-to-the-land commune in northern Alberta in 1970. There, he was immersed in many positive aspects of depth psychology and the counterculture and eventually went to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California as a workscholar. The people and land of Esalen had powerful awakening and inspiring effects on him and he has been committed to deep self-exploration and service work ever since. While at Esalen, Renn was able to study with Richard Tarnas and Stanislav Grof, including attending a monthlong workshop with Stan and Christina Grof. He eventually certified as a Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator in 1989, recertifying in Grof® Breathwork in 2023. As a young person, Renn had a kundalini awakening and returned to Esalen, an ideal place to process and allow the openings to occur. He experienced breathwork sessions at that time as a kind of generic spiritual practice, akin to the earliest shamanic processes of humanity. In both the ancient and modern approaches, people enter holotropic states in a supportive group setting and allow their inner healers to open the doorway to forgotten inner terrains, resolve buried traumas, and move their psyches toward wholeness. Renn offers workshops in British Columbia and abroad, as well as archetypal astrology consultations with clients around the world. His first book, Pathways to Wholeness, about astrology and psychedelic experiences, was published in 2014, followed by The Archetypal Universe in 2018, which focuses on dreams, and The Astrology of Love and Relationships in 2022 about relationships. He offers a seven-month online course in Archetypal and Holotropic Astrology beginning each fall, a very special learning community. Renn received his B.A. in English and Religious Studies from the University of Alberta and a PhD in Archetypal Astrology and Transpersonal Psychology from Ubiquity University in 2022. He is the cofounder and director of a new graduate program, through Ubiquity, in Archetypal and Holotropic Studies. He also cofounded the Archetypal News Network (ANN) channel on Youtube, which offers ongoing videos in Tarnas’ approach to archetypal astrology and current events. He is deeply interested in the effects of unresolved psychological trauma on the escalating problems facing human society, including climate change, warfare, conspiracy theories, and authoritarianism. Renn worked part time as a health care worker with physically, mentally, and emotionally challenged adults for over thirty years while writing his books and lives with his partner Alison in Victoria, B.C. www.rennbutler.com www.archetypalnews.net
Gianna Sutley
Program Manager
Gianna graduated from DePaul University with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Public Relations and Advertising, and Relational Communication. Her background is rich with experience in marketing, branding, and business strategy, particularly within the health and wellness sector, and is known for her entrepreneurial spirit and ability to navigate complex challenges with innovative, data-backed solutions. Most recently, Gianna worked as a Senior Manager of Innovation at Green Thumb Industries, a leading national cannabis company. There, she spearheaded the refinement of consumer packaged goods portfolios and developed multi-year innovation pipelines that propelled the company’s growth. Her strategic oversight led to significant achievements, including a Silver Clio for the successful media campaign for incredibles Snoozzzeberry edibles. Now, as a Program Manager at Grof Legacy Training USA, Gianna is the right-hand partner to Jay Dufrechou, the Director of Grof Legacy Training USA. In this role, she oversees a diverse array of projects and strategic initiatives, ensuring they remain on course and are aligned with the organization's overarching goals. The transition from a successful career in the corporate sector to her current role at Grof Legacy Training represents a profound shift in Gianna’s professional journey. This change was driven by a deep-seated desire to align her work with her personal values and to engage in a field that resonates with her passions for alternative healing. Discovering the work of Stan Grof and the broader fields of depth psychology and psychedelic medicine was transformative for Gianna, leading her to embrace a more holistic perspective on life and personal growth. Her move to Grof Legacy Training is not just a career shift but a realignment with her calling to bridge spiritual traditions and modern psychological practices, fostering a more integrated approach to healing and personal development. Gianna is currently pursuing certification as a Grof Breathwork Facilitator through Grof Legacy Training USA and working towards becoming a Board Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach with the Psychospiritual Institute. She also plans to pursue certification in Grofian Psychedelic Facilitation in the near future. Outside of her professional life, Gianna enjoys living in Denver where she embraces the outdoors with her partner, Zack, and their Catahoula Leopard Dog, D'Artagnan. She finds joy in hiking, backcountry camping, exploring new restaurants, attending live music, and immersing herself in the latest thriller or sci-fi novel.
Parham Farsi
Global Community Liaison
Parham Farsi is passionately working to expand Grof Legacy facilitation and training worldwide. As a seasoned entrepreneur and founder, Parham’s leadership reflects a deep commitment to fostering personal and collective transformation, empowering individuals and communities globally. He is dedicated to bringing Grof’s transformative practices to new regions and actively engaging with diverse communities. Connect to Parham on LinkedIn and ask how to bring Grof Legacy to your community: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjfarsi