Creating a holding environment in an organisational setting: A systems psychodynamic first person action research perspective

A key function of an organisational consultancy practitioner, working from a systems psychodynamic perspective, is to hold individuals in a psychologically safe place as they engage in difficult conversations. A key question in this regard is how the practitioner goes about attempting to create a holding environment in a complex organisational setting. This research, which uses first person action research methodology, and was conducted as part of a professional doctorate, explores the creation of a holding environment. The author, in her role as a practitioner in an organisational setting, inquired into how she created a holding environment using a systems psychodynamic lens. Inquiring in the present tense with triple attentiveness to the outer data of sense, the inner data of consciousness, and the intellectual data of her understanding, the author shows and illuminates with case material how she attempted to create a holding environment. While others have made reference to the experience of the consultant in creating a holding environment, the contribution of this article is to do so systematically using a specific research methodology. Seven key elements emerged in the research. These elements include (1) negotiating with key authority figures within the organisation, (2) creating psychological safety in the group, (3) dreaming and reverie, (4) communicating with group participants including attuning and mirroring, (5) creating space for needs, vulnerabilities, and emotions, (6) enabling insight and understanding, and (7) holding environments-in-the-mind.