What are the Experiences of the Female Body-modified Therapist in the Consulting Room? An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

This article considers the position of the female tattooed body within the context of the ‘caring professions'. Tattoos are increasingly popular within these workplaces, but a stigma persists. The limited psychoanalytic research on body modifications in the consulting room concludes that tattoos are either a superficial fashion choice or an indicator of deviance and/or self-harm. To initiate a conversation that can move away from the current pathologizing paradigm, I have considered the ways in which tattooing can be considered as a creative ‘working through’, distinct from an aggressive ‘acting out’. The research utilized an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach to examine the lived experiences of female therapists, with body modifications, in the consulting room. All participants focused on their tattoos as their significant body modification and experiences varied depending on the specifics of the client work, professional environment and beliefs about perceptions of tattoos from the wider population. Identified themes were: appearance of self in the consulting room; the perceived communication of one's inner world through inked skin and integration of the process of tattooing. Professionalism was emphasized as an integral consideration for revealing or concealing tattoos in the consulting room and specifically this was heightened in relation to being female.