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ADHD · Our approach · Course part 4 of 6

Feeling internally held

Explore feeling internally held through your experience. The balloon and a flexible, sensitive membrane are optional pointers, with no ideal size to achieve.

Our approach · Part 4 of 6

What does it mean to feel internally held? Nisha describes containment, bodily coherence, stability and a sense of safety: somewhere within yourself to relax, without being pushed or pulled into something. These words invite attention to an experience you may recognise. Your own words give us somewhere to begin.

Attention can feel spacious, open, grounded and held. It can also feel scattered or constricted. The reasons differ from person to person. We can look closely at an actual moment and the conditions around it.

One possible image

A balloon is one possible image for including what is happening within and around you. It can give you something accessible to connect to when attention feels dispersed. A larger balloon is no better than a smaller one. We are exploring containment and somewhere within yourself to relax; its size is not the aim.

Another possible pointer is a sensitive membrane: an interface with experience within and around you. It can expand or contract and respond differently in different moments. There is no ideal size or amount of permeability to hold it in. The invitation is to make contact with that experience, rather than force it into a fixed form.

At the existing review after four appointments in total, we also look at how the coaching is working. What has become accessible? What support or approach needs adjusting? That conversation gives us room to return to a theme, change the form or reconsider what would help you.

Questions to explore

  • How would I describe feeling held in my own words?

  • What helps me find somewhere within myself to relax?

Why this part is here

This part gives room to an experience of attention as open, grounded and held. It follows the exploration of an accessible point of contact, while leaving room to revisit either theme. The four-appointment review also gives us a place to consider what is working and adjust the support together.

See this part in the six-week outline →

Sources and further reading

Research notes and references

Feeling held, the optional balloon and the flexible membrane pointer follow Nisha’s clinical formulation and the later recorded conversation. They point towards experience rather than a fixed shape to achieve. The companion articles give the wider account and its sources. The particular form remains something to explore with the person.

Read alongside this part

Course outline and the reason for this theme · All six course readings