ABSTRACT
Despite the crucial importance of the holding experience with some patients, and the ubiquity of the holding metaphor at moments in vir tually all treatment situations, there are times when the holding pro cess stalls or even fails absolutely. Here, despite the analyst's ability to tolerate her subjective experience, and despite the ways in which the patient apparently settles into a holding process, that process does not evolve. Patient and analyst remain stuck within the metaphor, and no deepening is evident in the patient's self-experience or in her capacity for mutual relatedness.
