The Hero/ine's Journey is a powerful, magical and transformational process of self-discovery, dreamed up by the actor, director and Gestalt therapist Paul Rebillot. This one-of-a-kind workshop draws on Gestalt therapy, transformational theatre, bodywork and ritual.

Alongside a group of fellow journeyers, you will leave your day-to-day life behind for a while, and spend 6 days being guided through the archetypal journey of the hero or heroine passing through an intense programme of immersive exercises/experiences. These are centred around meeting your inner Hero/ine (the part of you which has a vision, knows your deepest heart’s desire and has the courage to get up and pursue that vision, whatever it takes!) and your inner Demon (the part which sabotages you, or makes you stay in your comfort zone, and persuades you that following that vision is a terrible idea!).

As you experience these powerful inner forces from the inside, the process - which is at the same time both incredibly playful and deeply illuminating - builds up to a 'confrontation' between these polarities. This results in a key shift, allowing you to surrender to the magic that unfolds when these forces no longer need to operate against each other, but instead are harnessed together in a common direction. This can feel like stepping into unknown territory, or standing tall and riding a new kind of wave. Participants often come into powerful contact with their core resources and natural ability to be in full contact with life in all its dimensions, and can resolve long-standing inner stagnation along the way.

We delight in the personal processes that unfold through the workshop and witness their deep, enriching effects on people's lives. In our experience, the journey can be demanding and ecstatic in equal measure and leads to increased honesty with and curiosity towards yourself (and, by extension, towards others) and a sense of freedom and celebration of life.

The therapeutic concept of the workshop is based on carefully selected methods from humanistic psychology that integrate body, mind and heart in order to go far beyond cognitive insights.

A unique mixture of individual, partner and group exercises, guided imagery, meditation and awareness exercises, bodywork, gestalt therapy, dance, drama, breathework and ritual enable you to dive deep into the world of the monomyth, allowing your creative imagination and your very real daily life issues to merge in a fascinating, powerful and ultimately transformational way.

This fascinating and unique workshop is a powerful catalyst for personal growth, and is aimed at anyone who is looking for more clarity, courage and joy in life. Over the last few years, we have guided hundreds of people on their Hero's Journey; for many, it was an important turning point in their life. Almost all of them report having developed a better relationship with themselves and others, and many of them went away with an increased feeling of clarity and trust, enabling them to lead their life with more confidence and joy.

The hero's journey is very much designed for hero*ines of any gender and any age (18+). Whilst the concept of the Hero’s Journey is sometimes associated more with the male archetype in mythology, the workshop’s conception of the hero/ine goes much deeper than any cliche of the hero and is very inclusive.

• You are at a turning point in your life and want to gather courage and resources.

• Your daily life feels stagnant in some area and you don't know how to make a change.

• You would like to deepen or transform your relationship to yourself, your fellow human beings, or life itself.

• You feel ripe for an adventure into unknown territory and trust the excited feeling in your belly as you read this...

In the 1940s, the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell coined the term 'the hero's journey monomyth' to describe humankind's biggest common story, the basic structure shared by the vast majority of myths and legends which have been passed down through the ages. The hero's journey is an archetypal story, found in infinite iterations, which describes the basic conflict between the adventurer and a foe that they meet along the way. Campbell saw this as a metaphor for the conflict inherent to human existence (desire for life vs. safety). Inspired by this, in the 1980s, Paul Rebillot (a friend of Campbell's, and an actor, director and gestalt therapist) developed 'The Hero's Journey' workshop, designed not only to be an intensive personal development process, but also a modern transformation ritual which can be likened to a rite of passage.

For Rebillot, hero/ine stories reflect our daily inner conflict between the need to grow and live passionately on the one hand, and the need for safety / security on the other hand. Often stagnating between these two poles - our wishes and our fears - facing this inner conflict creatively and head-on can, in our experience, unlock enormous potential for deep personal transformation. According to Rebillot, we can't rely on our intellect alone to resolve these powerful inner conflicts in our lives; instead, they must be experienced and dealt with on all levels of experience – by diving deep into our bodies, emotions and imaginations. This is exactly what the Hero's Journey invites you to do. Rebillot saw this work not only as personal, but also as deeply connected to the need for humanity to mature collectively.

The Hero's Journey is a 6-day-long residential group process which takes place in a small group of around 12-15 participants. The workshop is led by professional Hero's Journey facilitators who are experienced in holding a supportive and safe space so that you can trust your path as it unfolds. During the workshop, you will become the protagonist of your own story, playing out all the most important parts of the Hero's Journey cycle in order to experience and transform your own central inner conflict. Each day focusses on a different step of the journey, and encompasses a wide variety of exercises and experiences which lead you on a path towards finding your own unique resolution to this conflict. If this description still sounds rather ambiguous, that's inevitable! Heroes and heroines are characterised by the fact that they venture into new and unknown territory; there is a map, but the map is not the territory, and no two people's journeys are alike...

The Hero’s Journey is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and as such, not usually a journey you take twice. If you fall in love with this work, though, don’t worry - it doesn’t have to end here! Paul Rebillot crafted a series of 4 further workshops covering some of the biggest themes of human consciousness: FamilyCircles (covering family - past, current and future, in all senses), The Shadow (that which you have pushed out of your identity though it belongs to you), The Lover’s Journey (exploring the archetypal qualities of Female/Male or Yin/Yang within each of us), and finally, saving perhaps the most consciousness-expanding topic until last - Death itself. These workshops are an absolute feast of creative, embodied exploration!

We will be running the first of these follow-up workshops, The Shadow, from 6th to 12th July 2026 at Eden Rise, in Devon. Applications are now open for those who have participated in The Hero’s Journey, but only limited places are available. Email us now at info@wise-fools.org if you’re interested!

We are convinced, over and over again, by the transformational power of Paul Rebillot's workshops! That's why our aim is to enable as many people as possible to take part in them, regardless of their financial situation. Inspired by the concept we have worked with in Germany with Irgendwie Anders, our donation-based concept means that to take part in the Hero's Journey, you only need to pay the cost of food and board. The workshop itself comes to you as a gift, paid for by previous participants who wished to express their gratitude for the workshop through a donation. In turn, at the end of the workshop participants have the opportunity to make a donation to support this work in the future, whether financially, and/or by returning as a volunteer to cook at a workshop in the future. Each person is free to choose whether, how, or how much they can donate based on their individual situation. We believe that this concept is not only more inclusive, but also enhances the experience of the workshop as something that you are given as a gift - leaving you with the freedom to explore it with curiosity and make your own mind up…

Since the number of places is limited, we advise you to apply for a place as soon as possible if interested! You can apply by filling out the form (linked to in the ‘Next Workshop’ section), after which we will send you payment details and further information.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us either by email, or by filling out the contact form below. If you don’t hear back from us, please be sure to check your spam folder as we aim always to answer within 48 hours.