How Can Tattoos be Understood as Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy?: Integrating Visual Art, Personal Narrative, and Embodied Experience: Development of a Method

Author

Rachel S. Hall, Lesley UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-17-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Expressive Therapies

Major

Expressive Therapies

First Advisor

E Kellogg

Abstract

This paper explores the inherent intermodal nature of tattoos through the lens of expressive arts therapy, demonstrating how tattoos integrate visual art, personal narrative, and embodied experience. A group intervention was designed and implemented in an outpatient setting, drawing on existing literature and the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) to examine how tattoos function as therapeutic tools that support identity formation, emotional healing, and self-expression. The intervention guided participants through an intermodal process that began with reflective writing on identity-forming experiences, followed by visual art-making and somatic engagement. This approach illuminated the transformative potential of tattoo conceptualization within a therapeutic context, affirming tattoos as powerful conduits for storytelling, meaning-making, and reclaiming personal narratives.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Hall, Rachel S., "How Can Tattoos be Understood as Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy?: Integrating Visual Art, Personal Narrative, and Embodied Experience: Development of a Method" (2025). Expressive Therapies Theses. 47.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_therapies_theses/47