Hazel Da Breo, PhD, R.P., is a practicing psychotherapist with an international clientele, who dedicates her life to psychology and its intersections with philosophy, transcendence, social justice and the ethos of non-violence. Her research work has focused on child protection, and on the relationships between culture-created mental illness, psychosis and spirit possession. She has published widely in the field. In the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at St. George’s University, Hazel holds the positions of Assistant Professor, Director of Psychology, and Deputy Chair. She runs an NGO (www.sweetwaterfoundation.ca), renown for its work in child protection and gendered violence. She is committed to psychology’s liberatory purpose, and its objective to offer interventions that relieve the social, spiritual and psychic suffering of ordinary people.
Canadian trained Psychotherapist
in the tradition of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Licence No: 007398
College of Registered Psychotherapists, Ontario
Hazel Da Breo
Recent Publications
“Presentation and care of a family with Huntington disease in a resource-limited community.” Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders, 2017.
Jarmal Charles, B.S.; Lindyann Lessey, B.S.; Jennifer Rooney, M.D.; Ingmar Prokop, B.S.; Katherine Yearwood, M.D.; Hazel Da Breo, Pdh.D.; Patrick Rooney, M.D.; Ruth H Walker, MB. Ch.B., Ph.D.; Andrew K Sobering, Ph.D.
“Cross-Cultural Practice for Addressing Child Sexual Abuse in Clinical, Group and Community Settings”. Palgrave McMillan, 2016
Jones, Trotman-Jemmott, Da Breo and Maharaj.
“An Integrated Systems Model for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse.” Palgrave McMillan, December, 2014.
Jones, Trotman-Jemmott, Maharaj and Da Breo.
“Setting the Ground for Dysfunction and Vulnerability to Sexual Abuse: Child Abandonment in Grenada”, in International Perspectives on Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons from the Caribbean.
Palgrave McMillan. February, 2013. Editor, Professor Adele Jones.
“It’s my Party, I’ll cry if I want to”, with Jones, Adele, in Feminist Narrative Research: Opportunities and Challenges, 2017, Palgrave McMillan, UK.
J. Woodiwiss and K.Smith, eds.
“The Impact Project- a Case Study from Grenada”, with Jones, Adele and Pasura, Dominic, in International Perspectives on Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons from the Caribbean. Palgrave McMillan. February, 2013. Editor, Professor Adele Jones.
“Deconstructing Narratives of Childhood Sexual Abuse”, with Jones, Adele, in International Perspectives on Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons from the Caribbean. Palgrave McMillan. February, 2013. Editor, Professor Adele Jones.
The Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse in the Caribbean – A Strategic Plan. University of Huddersfield, UK. 2011
International Consultancies
2018 : PANCAP/Global Fund : National Coordinator : Implementation of the Justice for All Plan in Grenada. Removing Barriers to Accessing HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Key Populations n the Caribbean.
2017 – Ongoing : UNDSS (United Nations Department of Safety and Security) CISMU. External Mental Health Professional.
2017 : CVC : Lead Facilitation, Train the Trainers Workshops, Front Line Service to Vulnerable Communities, with an emphasis on the LGBT population. Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua.
2016-2018 : Senior Research Fellow, None in Three project (E.U. Funded) University of Huddersfield, U.K.
2014-2015 : DIRECTORATE OF GENDER AFFAIRS GOVERNMENT OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA and UNWomen. CONTENT DEVELOPER, GENDER BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMME FOR GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN IN THE CARIBBEAN. Antigua.
2013: INTEREG Caraibes / COIN: Atelier sur le Changement de Comportement et la Sexualite. Guadeloupe and Martinique.
2013: UNWomen: Co-Facilitator, Leadership Training, Engaging Men and Boys in the fight to end Violence Against Women and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Grenada.
2012: UNWomen: Lead Facilitation of a Workshop for CARIMAN, Gender-Equality and the Elimination of Violence against Women. Dominica.
2012: CVC-COIN: Co-Facilitation of a Peer Education Workshop, GBTM Community, Trinidad and Tobago.
2012: UNWomen: Co-Facilitation of a Facilitators Training Workshop, Partnerships for Peace, Barbados.
2012: IYF/CYEP: Design and Delivery of a Workshop for staff from two youth-oriented agencies, regarding methods for dealing with youth from vulnerablized communities.
2011: Bureau for Gender Affairs, Government of the British Virgin Islands. Lead Trainer for facilitators of the After Support Program, Partnerships for Peace.
2011: UNWomen. Design and Training of the After Support Program – a psychotherapeutic group for male perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence.
2011: UNWomen / UNDP / CCWA. Consultant/Facilitator. Advancing Women’s Transformational Leadership and Advocacy for HIV Action. Leadership Development Training. Grenada, Guyana, Belize.
2011: UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD. (U.K.) Consultant responsible for the development of a Strategic Plan / Template for the prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in the O.E.C.S.
2011: UNWomen/CIDA. Consultant/Writer, Partnerships for Peace. Development and Presentation of a training curriculum for facilitators of a psycho-educational group for perpetrators of IPV.
2010 : UNIFEM. Partnerships for Peace – A Domestic Violence Intervention. Protocol for Victim Contact
2010: PAHO. (August) Consultancy to co-facilitate a 5-day Introspective and Experiential Sexuality and Sexual Health workshop, in the context of diverse sexual behaviors in the Caribbean. Trinidad & Tobago.
2010: PAHO. (June) Consultancy to support the development and implementation of a training package (pilot) for health workers to adequately address the health care needs of Men in the context of sexual diversity. Trinidad & Tobago.
2010: UNTF / GNOW (Grenada National Organization of Women). Evaluation of Project “Support Network for Women Experiencing Gender-Based Violence.”
2010: UNIFEM / Ministry of Education, Grenada. Development of Guidelines and Indicators for Gender Responsive and Comprehensive Sexuality Development Policies, Curriculum and Programmes in the Education Sector.
2010 – 2012: REACH Grenada. Assessment/Evaluation, Design and Delivery of Therapeutic programs for residents and staff, Queen Elizabeth Home for Children, Grenada.
2009: UNIFEM. Workshop/Trainings on “The Development of Human Sexuality.” Dominica, Belize, Barbados, Grenada. This consultancy included the development of material for incorporation in the Unifem training instrument, “Gender, Human Rights and HIV.”
2009: Action for Children. Evaluation Project on Psychological Counseling for clients of the Foster Care program in Grenada.
2008 / 2009: University of Huddersfield, U.K., Centre for Applied Childhood Studies. Researcher, “Perceptions of, Attitudes to and Opinions on Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Caribbean”.
2008 – Present: UNIFEM. Member, Expert Panel (Regional), Partnerships for Peace
2008: UNIFEM. Partnerships for Peace – A Domestic Violence Intervention. Substantive Editing of the Program Manual.
Following a B.A. in French from York University, I took the M.A. Art History program, also at York. While enjoying a good and exciting career as curator and dealer of contemporary Canadian and Caribbean art, I also worked as a journalist in the field of culture and the arts, and performed very briefly as jazz vocalist in a trio. Then psychotherapy caught my eye. I plunged in headlong, and from that moment have dedicated my life to the pursuit of all things therapeutic. All prior hobbies, interests and contemplations coalesced in this one perfect profession.
My martial art practice, my meditation coaching, my internships with the forest monks in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and with the Zen Buddhist Temple, Toronto, not to mention my deep affinity for gardens, nature, and our blue planet; the pieces all fell together in this one perfect place.
As a part of my research into trauma-informed psychotherapy, I took a one-year yoga teacher’s training program at the Esther Myers Studio in Toronto, and studied addiction control and sex-abuse treatment with Native Canadian communities. I took a PhD in Psychotherapeutic Counseling with the Open International University of the World Health Organization, another MA in Depth Psychology with an emphasis on Jungian and Archetypal studies at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in California, and finally another in Adult Education from Yorkville University, New Brunswick. I think I may stop there, but then again there is so very much to learn.
I am most fortunate to have an incredible family, a small group of very dear friends, and personal therapeutic practices in archery and Sufism.