ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how bodily intimacy is essential for postnatal survival and the critical role of touch and holding (both physical and symbolic) in emotional development and healthy neurobiological growth. It then discusses how empathic holding can warm the wounded self back to life and help adolescents return to creative living. The expressive arts, together with the facilitation of a safe and reliable environment, promote self-actualisation and facilitate impulse control. They enable adolescents to both communicate and to contain otherwise overwhelming thoughts and emotions. It is through early play that children learn about the world and how to navigate their environments. It increases their capacities to work cooperatively with others, facilitates problem-solving abilities and allows them to imagine and try out new possibilities without being directly at risk. A consistent holding environment provides both a secure container and a buffer for surges of unprocessed shame-based affects. It promotes growth, fosters behavioural changes and allows for experiences of closeness and autonomy.
