Pregnant with Yourself: A therapeutic ritual process to feminine transformation in drama therapy

This article introduces a new ritual-based drama therapy method developed for individuals navigating feminine transformation. The authors argue that this approach is particularly beneficial during life transitions. Jerome Bernstein’s construct of the Borderland personality (2005), Maureen Murdock’s model of the heroine’s journey and Karl Kerenyi’s description of the Eleusinian Mysteries ([1962] 1991) will be considered. Practice models drawn from Greek theatre include the chorus and coryphaeus. Expanding beyond the Hero’s Journey framework – which is dominant in therapeutic theatre interventions – the approach proposes a cyclical, gestational model of transformation. Extending Jung’s concept of the one-to-one therapeutic relationship into a group setting, this methodology creates space for the self to birth its authentic expression through an embodied experience the authors call a therapeutic ritual process.