THE HOLDING and THE PROVOCATION:
Navigating the Edge Between Support and Challenge
in Contemporary Psychodynamic Theory
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025
Time: 9:00–11:00 a.m. PT / 12:00–2:00 p.m. ET
Format: Live via Zoom (Recording Included)
Over the years, Dr. Martha Stark has come increasingly to appreciate that, if there is to be the possibility for deep, embodied healing, the patient must be given the experience of optimally stressful, growth-incentivizing “mismatch experiences” (no pain / no gain) – the working through of which becomes the very means by which the patient will evolve from rigid defense to resilient adaptation.
By their very nature, violations of expectation—wherein “old bad” and “new good” are starkly juxtaposed—serve as the sine qua non for transformation at the level of implicit relational knowing (Lyons-Ruth). These “prediction errors” provide impetus for both top-down reinterpretation and bottom-up reorganization, integrating new emotional truths into the fabric of deeply embedded implicit memory.
But this raises the critical question: When—and under what conditions—is it clinically appropriate to begin introducing “provocation” into the “holding”? Provocation that jolts but does not overwhelm; disruption that activates within Siegel’s “window of tolerance” rather than traumatizes; challenge that fosters change deep and enduring enough to persist long after the patient leaves the therapy room.
Dr. Stark will work with participants to deepen and operationalize these ideas—so we can better navigate that delicate edge between holding that steadies and provocation that stirs—the edge where the real work of healing takes place.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Highlight differences between the “holding” and “provocation” stages in deep, embodied psychodynamic treatment.
- Distinguish between “being with patients where they are” and “directing their attention to elsewhere.”
- Explain the relationship between “holding” and homeostatic attunement.
- Clarify the relevance of disruptive attunement to the “provocation” stage.
- Elaborate on the importance of providing both homeostatic and disruptive attunement.
- Expound on the concept of “no pain / no gain.”
- Explain the role of the elaborated paragraph in laying the groundwork for treatment.
- Differentiate between change sustained only in-session and change that is deep, embodied, and enduring.
Cost
CE Credit Information
CE credits not available for purchase of the recording.
About the Presenter
Martha Stark, MD, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, is an internationally recognized psychoanalyst, author, and teacher. She is the creator of THE STARK METHOD of PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY™, a multifaceted model highlighting five dimensions of resilience in the therapeutic process.
She has served on the Clinical Faculty at Harvard Medical School, is Co-Founder of the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies at William James College, and holds faculty appointments at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Asia Graduate School of Theology.
Martha is the award-winning author of nine influential books, including Relentless Hope: The Refusal to Grieve and Modes of Therapeutic Action, works widely regarded as essential reading in psychoanalytic training programs across the U.S. and internationally.
