The tattooed therapist: Exposure, disclosure, transference

Abstract

Following an intense experience with a client who inadvertently discovered my tattoo, I became interested in the dynamics of clinicians’ disclosing this particular kind of personal information to psychotherapy patients. My interviews with tattooed colleagues explored the erotic, aggressive, and narcissistic overtones of such revelations, as well as their more affiliative nuances, given the growing likelihood that many clients have themselves modified their bodies in this way. I found that whatever their disclosure decisions – and however much they eschewed traditional notions about the psychopathology of tattooing – the practitioners I interviewed were equivocal about revealing tattoos in professional settings. The idea of the tattoo, despite its embrace by mainstream culture, is still strongly identified with a kind of deviant identity – and a defiance of patriarchal authority – that makes thoughtful tattoo wearers think twice about the message they are sending out.