The ‘Holding Function’ of Dynamic Psychotherapy in a Custodial Setting: A Review

The dual connotation of words such as security or identity, which both forensic psychiatry and dynamic psychology regard as their own, is nowhere more evident than in relation to the words ‘hold’ and ‘holding’. The dictionary entry under ‘hold’ includes ‘keep fast, keep possession, detain, remain unbroken, grasp, not give way, adhere to, maintain, hold out — hope — possibility’. Whereas, a group of patients at Broadmoor, an alternative source of information, offered the following associations: ‘We are held … we can't walk through the gates … we hold ourselves here by what we've done … we need to be able to hold out … we need someone to hold us … we need someone to hold on to’. Indeed, one patient felt that he had let go of the therapist ‘too soon’, thus recalling the words of Stevie Smith: ‘You have weaned me too soon, you must nurse me again’ ( The Wanderer).