Tattoo Therapy
Tattoo Therapy is the joint vision of tattoo artist, Kelly Gelling, and psychotherapist, Catherine Chinnock. ​ It is a therapeutically informed ritual container designed to evoke and enhance the intention of your tattoo experience. It consists of 4 parts:
inspiration, consultation, ritual, integration.
Inspiration
People seek tattoos for myriad reasons:
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Express identity
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Mark a significant life event
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Memorialize a loved one
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Honor a relationship
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Highlight a part of the body
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Bond with someone
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Ground a spiritual experience
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Aesthetic adornment
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Group identification
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Reclaiming your body
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Honoring of pain
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Rewriting a narrative
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Transformation of scars
Consultation
Tattoo Therapy works with you to deepen your relationship with your reason for seeking a tattoo. Itbegins with your explicit motivation and vision for the tattoo, then gently explores the deeper, implicit intentions beneath it. The process opens with a joint consultation with Catherine and Kelly. During this session, we clarify the size, placement, style, and imagery of your design while also engaging in thoughtful, deepening inquiry to uncover any unconscious material that may be moving through your creative expression. Drawing from archetypal and spiritual psychology, we work to bring the unconscious into conscious awareness, allowing your tattoo to emerge as an integrated and meaningful embodiment of your intention. The consultation also includes discussion of how you would like to deepen the experience of the day of your tattoo with ritual.
Ritual
The art of tattooing is deeply rooted in ritual and we will work with you on how you would like your day to look.
This can include:
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Designing your own playlist
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Creating an altar
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Inviting friends/family
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Holding reverent silence
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Inviting a container for witnessing and reflection
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Guided somatic awareness
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Supported somatic release
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Pre/Post tattoo space for art making or journaling
Integration
The Tattoo Therapy experience can also include follow up integration conversations to support any emotions, insights, or sensations that may have revealed themself during or after your tattoo session.
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