Holding Environments at Work

Holding environments are interpersonal or group-based relationships that enable self-reliant workers to manage situations that trigger potentially debilitating anxiety. Working from a theoretical framework woven of concepts from developmental and clinical psychology, group dynamics, and organizational behavior, the author describes holding environments, the conditions that facilitate their creation, and the points at which they are vulnerable to failure. He also discusses the group, intergroup, and organizational contexts that shape the extent to which holding environments at work are realistic or desirable.