SHAMANIC TRAINING IN IRELAND
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Shamanism
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Transpersonal Therapy
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Shamanic Training
Beginner, Practitioner & Advanced Shamanic Training at Dunderry Park
THE WAY OF THE WOUNDED HEALER
The Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies at Dunderry Park, Co. Meath offers a progressive pathway in Shamanic Training, from introductory and foundation study through residential Shamanic Practitioner Training to advanced Shamanic practice, Shamanic Counselling, supervision and Transpersonal training and Holotropic Breathwork,
Training is directed by Martin Duffy, Shamanic Teacher and Transpersonal Psychotherapist, who has worked in the mental-health field since 1977 and has taught Shamanism and Transpersonal Psychology for more than 40 years.
A distinctive feature of training at Dunderry Park is the integration of experiential Shamanic practice with Transpersonal Psychology, Jungian approaches, non-ordinary states of consciousness, breathwork, dreamwork, death and rebirth, psychopomp work, Shamanic healing and soul retrieval.
Students can begin with the foundations of Shamanism and progress through increasingly advanced levels of experiential and practitioner training.
OUR SHAMANIC TRAINING PATHWAY
Training at the Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies follows a progressive pathway. Students can begin with foundation training before moving into residential Practitioner Training and, for those wishing to continue, advanced Shamanic and Transpersonal training, Shamanic Counselling and supervision.
BEGINNER / FOUNDATION
The Elements of Shamanism
The Elements of Shamanism provides the foundation for students beginning their exploration of Shamanism.
The course introduces the history and cosmology of Shamanism, the Lower, Middle and Upper Worlds and the Underworld, non-ordinary states of consciousness, soul loss and soul retrieval, death and rebirth, psychopomp work and practical Shamanic techniques.
It provides the foundation required for students wishing to progress towards residential Shamanic Practitioner Training.
EXPLORE THE ELEMENTS OF SHAMANISM →
THE SHAMAN’S JOURNEY
The Shaman’s Journey is a residential experiential introduction to Shamanism at Dunderry Park, bringing the foundations of Shamanic practice to life through direct experience. Students learn to journey into the Lower, Middle and Upper Worlds, work with spirit guides and power animals, and take part in practices including Shamanic journeying, healing, ritual and ceremony, the Spirit Boat, Stalking Awareness and Trance Dance. Set within the private grounds of Dunderry Park, the weekend provides an immersive experience of Shamanism, nature and community and is an ideal next step for those wishing to deepen their practice.
EXPLORE THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY →
INTERMEDIATE / PRACTITIONER
Shamanic Practitioner Training
The Shamanic Practitioner Training is an immersive residential programme for students wishing to develop a deeper experiential and practical understanding of Shamanism.
Training takes place at Dunderry Park, Co. Meath and consists of four principal residential training modules:
SHAMANIC GATHERING
Deepening the student's relationship with Shamanic journeying, ritual, ceremony, nature, spirit allies and non-ordinary states of consciousness.
DEATH, REBIRTH & THE AFTERLIFE
Exploring death and dying from Shamanic and Transpersonal perspectives, including death/rebirth, ancestors, the afterlife and psychopomp work.
SHAMANIC HEALING
Developing an experiential understanding of Shamanic approaches to healing and working with helping spirits.
SOUL RETRIEVAL
Exploring the Shamanic understanding of soul loss, fragmentation, healing, soul retrieval and integration.
The residential nature of the programme allows students to step outside everyday life and immerse themselves in Shamanic practice, nature, ceremony, community and experiential learning.
Completion of The Elements of Shamanism is required before entering the Practitioner Training.
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ADVANCED TRAINING
Advanced Shamanic & Transpersonal Training
Training at Dunderry Park can continue beyond the core Practitioner programme.
Advanced and specialist training allows students and practitioners to deepen their exploration of Shamanism, Transpersonal Psychology, altered states of consciousness, death and dying, psychopomp work, spiritual emergence and spiritual emergency, breathwork, dreamwork and other areas of personal and spiritual development.
This continuing pathway allows students to develop their knowledge and practice over time rather than viewing Shamanic training as a single standalone course.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Shamanic Counselling & Supervision
For appropriately trained practitioners wishing to deepen their ability to work with others, the Centre offers further training in Shamanic Counselling.
The programme includes intensive experiential training, practice at home and subsequent supervision. It develops the practitioner's ability to work with intention, Shamanic journeying and the client's experience while placing importance on integration and responsible practice.
Completion of Martin Duffy's Shamanic Practitioner Training and the required preparatory training is a prerequisite.
SHAMANISM AND TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Where Shamanic Practice Meets Transpersonal Understanding
One of the distinctive characteristics of training at Dunderry Park is the integration of Shamanism and Transpersonal Psychology.Transpersonal Psychology explores dimensions of human experience that extend beyond ordinary ego identity, including altered and non-ordinary states of consciousness, spiritual experience, psychological transformation, death and rebirth, and experiences of spiritual emergence.Martin Duffy's work brings Shamanic practice into dialogue with Humanistic, Jungian and Transpersonal Psychotherapy, Holotropic Breathwork, dreamwork and approaches to altered states of consciousness.This relationship between Shamanism and Transpersonal Psychology provides students with a broader framework through which powerful Shamanic and Transpersonal experiences can be explored, understood and integrated.The relationship between these fields has formed part of Martin's work for decades and remains an important element of the approach taught at Dunderry Park.
ABOUT MARTIN DUFFY
Shamanic Teacher & Transpersonal Psychotherapist
Martin Duffy has worked in the mental-health field since 1977 and has taught Shamanism and Transpersonal Psychology for more than 40 years and is one of the leading voices on Shamanism.
He is Director of the Oaktree Charitable Trust, which runs the Irish Centre for Shamanic Studies and the Transpersonal Institute at Dunderry Park.
Martin's professional background encompasses Humanistic, Jungian and Transpersonal Psychotherapy, alongside decades of study and practice in Shamanism and non-ordinary states of consciousness.
He trained in Holotropic Breathwork with Dr Stanislav Grof, one of the founders of Transpersonal Psychology, and has undertaken Core Shamanism training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in the United States and the Scandinavian Centre for Shamanic Studies.
Martin's work is strongly influenced by the Druidic traditions of ancient Ireland. He comes from a family tradition of folk healing, with both his mother and grandfather having practised as traditional folk healers.
His experience has also included international fieldwork and engagement with indigenous Shamanic traditions in Mongolia, Mexico, the Amazon, the Andes and Africa.
This combination of Shamanic practice, psychotherapy, Transpersonal Psychology,non-ordinary states of consciousness and more than four decades of teaching experience informs the approach to training at Dunderry Park.
ABOUT MARTIN DUFFY →
RESIDENTIAL SHAMANIC TRAINING AT DUNDERRY PARK
Dunderry Park, the home of Shamanism in Ireland
The Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies is based at Dunderry Park in County Meath, in the heart of the Boyne Valley and within the wider landscape of some of Ireland's most important ancient sacred sites.
Dunderry Park provides a dedicated environment for Shamanic, Transpersonal and experiential training, combining indoor teaching with nature-based practice, ritual, ceremony and residential immersion.
The private grounds include woodland, a lake, the Druid Grove and the Cairn, providing opportunities for students to work directly with nature as part of their training. Students can undertake Stalking Awareness beneath the stars within the safety and privacy of Dunderry Park's 25-acre grounds
The Centre is within the wider Boyne Valley landscape associated with ancient sites including Tara, Newgrange and Sliabh na Caillí/Loughcrew.
Residential training gives students an opportunity to step away from everyday routines and immerse themselves in the work, the landscape and the training community.
MORE THAN A COURSE — A RESIDENTIAL SHAMANIC EXPERIENCE
Training at Dunderry Park is more than attending classes and going home at the end of the day. Students stay together, eat together, learn together and share the experience as a community throughout the residential training weekends.
Set within 25 acres of private grounds, the training can move naturally between the teaching room, woodland, Cairn, Druid Grove, lake, and the landscape itself.
Students may drum together in the Cairn at night, undertake Stalking Awareness beneath the stars, participate in ceremony and spend time alone in nature — all within the privacy and safety of Dunderry Park's own grounds.
Living and training together creates something that is difficult to reproduce in a classroom or online setting. Over the course of the training, students have time not only to learn Shamanic practices, but to build trust, form community, share meals and integrate their experiences together.
The land, the residential setting and the community become part of the training itself.
WHY TRAIN WITH SHAMANISM IRELAND?
More Than 40 Years' Teaching Experience
Training is directed by Martin Duffy, who has taught Shamanism and Transpersonal Psychology for more than four decades and has worked in the mental-health field since 1977.
Beginner to Advanced Training
The training provides a progressive pathway from foundation study through residential Practitioner Training and into advanced Shamanic and Transpersonal development.
Residential Practitioner Training
Training at Dunderry Park is more than attending classes and going home at the end of the day. Students stay together, eat together, learn together and share the experience as a community throughout the residential training weekends.
Set within 25 acres of private grounds, the training can move naturally between the teaching room, woodland, Druid Grove, Cairn, lake, and the landscape itself.
Students may drum together in the Cairn at night, undertake Stalking Awareness beneath the stars, participate in ceremony and spend time alone in nature — all within the privacy and safety of Dunderry Park's own grounds.
Living and training together creates something that is difficult to reproduce in a classroom or online setting. Over the course of the training, students have time not only to learn Shamanic practices, but to build trust, form community, share meals and integrate their experiences together.
The land, the residential setting and the community become part of the training itself.
Shamanism & Transpersonal Psychology
The Dunderry approach brings experiential Shamanic practice together with Martin's longstanding background in Humanistic, Jungian and Transpersonal Psychotherapy and altered states of consciousness.
Advanced Training, Counselling & Supervision
Training can continue beyond Practitioner level into specialist areas and advanced practitioner development, including Shamanic Counselling and supervision.
An Established Training Centre
The Irish Centre for Shamanic Studies has been directed by Martin Duffy at Dunderry Park for more than 35 years and forms part of the work of the Oaktree Charitable Trust.
IPHM Accredited
Shamanism Ireland is accredited by the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), providing independent professional recognition of our training and commitment to high standards of practitioner education.
A COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING PATHWAY
Shamanism Ireland offers a progressive and extensive pathway of Shamanic and Transpersonal training, allowing students to develop from their first introduction to Shamanism through Practitioner Training, Shamanic Counselling, supervision and advanced Transpersonal study.
The pathway begins with The Shaman's Journey, a three-day residential experiential introduction at Dunderry Park, together with The Elements of Shamanism, which provides approximately three to five days of foundation study.
Students can then progress to the Shamanic Practitioner Training, comprising 12 days of intensive residential training at Dunderry Park, followed by a further five days of Shamanic Counselling training and supervision for those wishing to continue their practitioner development.
Students who complete these stages can progress towards Transpersonal Therapist Certification, which typically involves a further 10–15 days of online and specialist study.
From late 2026, the pathway will extend further through the Advanced Transpersonal Certification, incorporating four additional residential training weekends — eight days of in-person training — together with approximately two days of online study.
Taken together, the current pathway provides approximately 33–40 days of Shamanic and Transpersonal training and study. With the addition of the Advanced Transpersonal Certification, students choosing to complete the entire pathway will have access to approximately 43–50 days of structured training and study, combining residential immersion, experiential Shamanic practice, counselling, supervision, Transpersonal Psychology and advanced practitioner development.
Students can enter and progress through the pathway according to their level of experience and the depth of training they wish to undertake.
STUDENT REVIEWS AND EXPERIENCE
What Our Students Say
Shamanism Ireland has received more than 50 independent Google reviews, reflecting the experiences of people who have attended our Shamanic training, workshops and events at Dunderry Park.
★★★★★ 5.0 Google Rating
50+ Google Reviews
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where can I train in Shamanism in Ireland?
The Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies offers foundation, practitioner and advanced Shamanic training at Dunderry Park in County Meath, Ireland, together with online foundation and specialist training.
Do I need previous experience?
No. Students who are new to Shamanism can begin with The Elements of Shamanism, which provides an introduction to Shamanic history, cosmology and practice and forms the foundation for further training.
How do I progress to Shamanic Practitioner Training?
Students first complete the required foundation training before progressing to the residential Shamanic Practitioner Training, which explores Shamanic practice, death and rebirth, Shamanic healing and soul retrieval.
Is the Shamanic Practitioner Training residential?
Yes. The core Shamanic Practitioner Training is delivered through residential training at Dunderry Park, Co. Meath.
Is there advanced training after the Practitioner programme?
Yes. Students can continue into advanced and specialist Shamanic and Transpersonal training. Further practitioner development includes Shamanic Counselling, experiential practice and supervision.
What makes the Dunderry approach different?
A distinctive aspect of the training is the integration of experiential Shamanic practice with Transpersonal Psychology, Jungian approaches, psychotherapy, altered states of consciousness, breathwork and dreamwork, combined with Martin Duffy's more than 40 years of teaching experience.
Is the Shamanic Practitioner Training accredited?
Yes. Shamanism Ireland's Shamanic Practitioner Training is accredited by the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), providing independent professional recognition of the training programme.
BEGIN YOUR SHAMANIC TRAINING
Whether you are completely new to Shamanism, wish to undertake residential Practitioner Training or want to deepen existing experience through advanced Shamanic and Transpersonal study, you can enter the training pathway at the level appropriate to your experience.
NEW TO SHAMANISM?
START WITH THE ELEMENTS OF SHAMANISM →
THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY-WEEKEND IMMERSIVE WORKSHOP
READY FOR PRACTITIONER TRAINING?
EXPLORE SHAMANIC PRACTITIONER TRAINING →
ALREADY A PRACTITIONER?