I remember being very upset and overwhelmed by feeling that whoever I thought I was in the past seemed not to be true anymore (because I was flooded with new memories and feelings), and the sensation was one of being in bits and pieces scattered over the floor and not feeling I had any center or wholeness. In tears, I asked my T to hold me; it was as though I couldn't physically feel any shape to myself. I imagine it is the sort of terror that a baby or very young child feels. My T wouldn't physically hold me, but very gently explained how there were other non-physical ways he could hold me, and that over time, I would be able to carry that sense within me. He understood what I couldn't about my feeling at the time: that it was about identity and integration psychologically. And while physical holding may have calmed my fear, it wouldn't have addressed the psychological state I was experiencing. So the two senses of holding can be related, but work in very different ways and to different ends.