THE FOOL’S DANCE GESTALT COMPANY – PAUL REBILLOT GROUP IN IRELAND:
Who We Are:
The Fool’s Dance Gestalt Company* was formed by a group of people in Ireland who had worked with Paul Rebillot for many years and who were graduates of his Advanced Training. We came together in order to continue Paul’s transformative work in this country by offering opportunities for people to participate in his unique therapeutic group workshops and in new workshop structures designed by members of the group during their training.
In 2017 – 2019 we ran a training programme in the Rebillot approach – ‘Creating Experiential Therapeutic Structures Based on Myth’.
The name of our group has a threefold significance: Firstly it references The Fool in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck (See illustration – copyright US Games Systems, Inc., 179 Ludlow Street, Stamford, CT 06902, USA) where he is portrayed as an elegant young man carrying all his possessions in a bundle on a staff over his shoulder. Holding a flower in his other hand he is blithely about to step off the edge of a cliff. He symbolises the risk-taker, setting out on a journey of self- discovery that will take him through – and energise – all the other archetypal images of the Tarot. Secondly, the ‘Fool’s Dance’ refers to a movement process that features in most of Paul Rebillot’s therapeutic structures. Through the Fool’s Dance, participants embody – and thus deepen – their experiences as they progress through the workshop. And – finally – ‘Gestalt Company’ is a reminder that the Rebillot approach is firmly rooted in Gestalt practice.
Everyone in the workshop Team is a member of the Fool’s Dance Gestalt Company (see below) and all are graduates of Paul Rebillot’s Advanced Training. Collectively they have extensive experience working as Paul Rebillot’s assistants and, following his retirement, in co-leading his workshops in Ireland.
*The word ‘Company’ in our group name has no commercial implications. It is used in the older sense of a group of people travelling together on a quest or an adventure, much as the terms “the Company of the Ring” and “the Fellowship of the Ring” are used interchangably in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga.
Glenda Cimino
Glenda Cimino completed Advanced Training with Paul Rebillot in Ireland 1998 – 2003. She is a writer, lecturer, comedian, actor and director of some award-winning plays and films.
Fergus Lalor
Fergus Lalor is a former academic scientist with a strong interest in the use of music in psychotherapy. He began working with Paul Rebillot in the early 1980s and has co-organised Rebillot workshops in Ireland since 1991. He completed Advanced Training with Paul Rebillot in Ireland 1998 – 2003, and acted as his assistant on many occasions.
Tony Carlin
Tony Carlin lives and works in Derry and has been involved in Paul Rebillot’s workshops in Ireland since 1991. He is an experienced leader of experiential group-work in a variety of areas including the Work of Byron Katie. Tony completed Paul Rebillot’s Advanced Training in Ireland 1998 – 2003.
John Culhane
John Culhane has an extensive background in the world of education. He graduated from Paul Rebillot’s Advanced Training in 2003 and has been assisting in and co-leading Rebillot workshops for several years.
Claire Murray
Claire Murray is co-founder and Director of the Flatstone Psychotherapy Training Institute. She is a psychotherapist based in Cork and works in private practice in addition to her training work. Claire was the first Irish person to train with Paul Rebillot, completing an apprenticeship with him in 1986 – 1987.
Dorothee Kölle
Dorothee Kölle is an artist and a community arts facilitator. She trained with Paul Rebillot in Germany and has been assisting and co-leading Rebillot workshops in Ireland since 2008.
Mary Mangan
Mary Mangan is a psychotherapist and group worker who has had a long involvement in the work of Paul Rebillot. From 1991 she co-organised and assisted in Rebillot workshops in Ireland, co-leading them since Paul’s retirement in 2008.
Apprenticeship Programme
Graduates of The Fool’s Dance Gestalt Company Advanced Training Programme will assist at each workshop.