ObjectiveScarifications, as superficial and repeated skin cuts, often carried out in secrecy during adolescence, are frequently described as a way to compensate for a deficit in the psychic envelope by an envelope of suffering. Confronted with these practices, the clinician's role would be to promote the restoration of a containing function in the patient who could then abandon these transgressive behaviors. This description, often accurate and validated by the clinic, is however insufficient to understand the relational dimension of scarification and the specific choice of this particularly disturbing practice to form an envelope of suffering. MethodBased on the exposure of a clinical case together with its evolution following an interpretative failure, this article develops several theoretical approaches and questions the hegemonic representation of scarification as a substitute for a deficient psychic envelope. DiscussionIf the scarifications result from a deficiency of the containing function due to the overwhelmed body sensations triggered during puberty, then the therapist can provide a sensory envelope to the adolescent through the sound envelope formed by his words. However, if the therapist considers the patient only from a deficiency point of view, he may overlook the interpellation that these scarification behaviours conceal. Indeed, the practices of skin cuts also often result from a resistance of the environment to accommodate the adolescent's impulsive, erotic and aggressive movements. In this context, skin cuts may be an attempt to “force the passage”. To avoid reproducing this rigidity of the environment, the therapist must therefore be particularly attentive about what the scarifications try to modify in him and not limiting them to behaviours that would only concern the patient. ConclusionIn addition to forming an envelope of suffering, scarifications in adolescence, as particularly disturbing transgressive practices, can be understood as attempts, often effective, to force a change of gaze, especially when the adolescent feels confined to the role of a child whose physical experiences are disavowed.