The wish to be held: female patients with borderline personality disorder

Two female patients expressed in psychotherapy their wish to be held. This reflects their pathology, intense loneliness and defective sense of self and reality. The 'holding' function of the psychotherapist can place the wish to be held into the mutual interaction even if it seems unacceptable, similar to the holding in mother-child communication. The deliberate efforts by the psychotherapist to 'hold' lead to an improvement of the pathology, and contribute to form an endurable therapeutic relationship. Unavoidable body contact with patients who are in regressive states is discussed, and the need to re-establish the communicative value of contact experiences is emphasized.