Voices of
Holding Space
monthly online circles exploring the
practice and impact of holding space
As the Centre for Holding Space celebrates its 5th anniversary, we find ourselves at a meaningful threshold. Over the past years, the work of Holding Space has taken root across the world, inspiring
deep personal, relational, and systemic transformation for many. Following the HS Alumni Gathering in Canada in September 2025 (pictured above), a renewed sense of connection, inspiration, and momentum has
emerged within our global community.
This feels like the perfect moment to come together more regularly, to learn from one another, to deepen our practice, and to continue nourishing the field of Holding Space.
The Invitation
We are delighted to introduce a new ongoing series of online workshops, hosted by the Centre for Holding Space. Each month, a member of our community will offer an interactive online circle, sharing their wisdom, lived experience, and unique perspective on Holding Space in relation to a specific theme.
These sessions are designed as spaces of inquiry, reflection, and embodied learning, not just talks, but lived experiences of Holding Space in action.
What to Expect
- Monthly online workshops
- Facilitated by members of the HS Alumni Community from around the world
- Each session centers around a distinct, inspiring theme related to Holding Space
- A balance of teaching, reflection, and interactive group dialogue
For Whom?
These workshops are open to:
- Members of the Holding Space alumni community
- Anyone curious about or engaged in the practice of Holding Space, whether personally or professionally
You are welcome whether you are new to Holding Space or have been walking this path for years.
Practical Information
Participation is offered on a paid basis, helping to sustain the work of the Centre for Holding Space and support the wider community.
- You may choose to join the live online session, or
- Purchase access to the recording if you are unable to attend live
This allows the work to be accessible across time zones while honoring the value of the offering.
As part of our commitment to greater equity and accessibility for our global audience, we invite you to choose the level of payment that works for you. (All prices in CAD. Options will be available when you click on “Register Now”.)
Justice: for those with sufficient resources who wish to sponsor others
Fair: for those with sufficient resources who can pay fair value
Equity: for those with currently limited financial resources
| Justice | Fair | Equity |
|---|---|---|
| Live session: $75 | Live session: $50 | Live session: $35 |
| Recording: $50 | Recording: $40 | Recording: $25 |
Why This Series?
This initiative is both a celebration of the richness, diversity, and depth of knowledge within the Holding Space community and a continuation of learning, connection, and mutual support. It is a way to keep Holding Space alive, evolving, and resourced.
We warmly invite you to join us in this unfolding series. To listen, to share, to reflect, and to be held in community.
Together, we continue to practice the art of Holding Space.
Online Workshops
Session 1: Holding Space for Hidden Dynamics
Beneath what we see and name, hidden dynamics are always at work; shaping how we lead, relate, and take our place within families, teams, and organizations, each of which we can describe as a “System”. Through Systemic Work, we learn to notice and engage with these dynamics with greater awareness and presence. The practice of Holding Space offers a meaningful and supportive foundation for exploring what lies beneath the surface. It is not only about what we explore, but how we do so.
Click for more about Holding Space for Hidden Dynamics
At its core, Systemic Work is grounded in the understanding that individuals are inseparable from the systems they belong to and that those systems carry memory, loyalty and overarching themes. And also that lasting change often emerges when the wider System is acknowledged
and included.
Systemic Work has its roots in several streams of thought and practice, including Family Systems Theory, Phenomenology, and many ancestral and indigenous wisdom traditions. It became more widely known through the work of Bert Hellinger who developed Family Constellations in the late 20th century. Drawing on his experience as a psychotherapist, his knowledge of group dynamics, and insights from working with local African communities, Hellinger uncovered core systemic principles such as belonging, order, and balance within systems. At the same time, Systemic Work has been shaped by a wider field of systemic thinkers and practitioners, and continues to evolve, integrating perspectives from organizational development, leadership, trauma-informed work, and embodied practices. Rather than offering fixed explanations or solutions, Systemic Work invites a phenomenological stance: slowing down, observing what shows itself, and allowing insight and movement to arise from the System itself.
The practice of Holding Space offers a meaningful and supportive foundation for Systemic Work. It is about creating the right conditions like safety, attentiveness, openness, non-judgement, so that dynamics can reveal themselves without force or fixture. In this way, Holding Space can be deeply interwoven with how we perceive, facilitate, and relate to what emerges.
In this first session of the CFHS Speaker Series “Voices of Holding Space”, we invite you into an exploration of Systemic principles and their connection to Holding Space.
In this 90-minute interactive online workshop, you will be introduced to the basics of Systemic Work and explore how systems carry patterns, loyalties, and histories that influence the way you show up in relationship with others. You will be invited to:
- Deepen your understanding of key Systemic principles
- Explore how hidden dynamics play out in everyday interactions
- Reflect on your own place, role, and recurring patterns within the systems you belong
This session is experiential and reflective. No prior experience with Systemic Work is required.
This online workshop is open to both Holding Space Alumni, and anyone interested in Holding Space and Systemic perspectives. The workshop will be held in English.
Date: To be announced
Lienke & Pasha, workshop hosts
Based in the Netherlands, Lienke and Pasha work with individuals, leaders, and teams who seek more depth and awareness in their work and lives. They have a solid foundation in Systemic Work and organisational development. They combine this with body-based awareness into an approach they call Embodied (Systemic) Leadership. Their work is characterized by slowing down, careful observation, and creating a clear and safe space to explore patterns that often originate in our systems of origin. Pasha is a Certified Holding Space Practitioner and Lienke is currently participating in the Holding Space Certification Programme.
Together, they are Bureau Neerland, where they guide leaders into leadership that is rooted in presence and holding space for what wants to emerge.