Holding Space works with civic, arts and cultural organisations to bring art therapy into welcoming, creative spaces connected to community and everyday life.

The therapeutic relationship remains at the heart of the work. The setting does not replace this relationship, but can shape how therapy is encountered and experienced.

Why these spaces matter

Therapy does not always need to take place in a traditional clinical environment. Museums, galleries, arts centres and other civic spaces can offer a different way of accessing therapeutic support.

These are places where people may already come together to create, learn, reflect and connect. Offering art therapy within them can help make emotional support more visible and connected to the communities they serve.

Each space has its own identity and relationship with its community. Holding Space works thoughtfully within each setting while ensuring the therapeutic work remains private, contained and professionally held.

Holding Space at Manchester Museum

Holding Space currently offers individual and group art therapy at Manchester Museum, where Kirsty is a Top Floor partner.

The museum’s commitment to care, belonging, social justice and Culture, Health and Wellbeing makes it a meaningful setting for this work. People enter as members of the public rather than as patients, within a place already associated with creativity, curiosity and connection.

The partnership has included individual art therapy and commissioned therapeutic groups, including Nurturing Resilience for Climate Activism – a supportive space for people to process the emotional impact of increasing hostility towards climate activists and consider how they might sustain themselves in their activism.

Working in partnership

Holding Space welcomes conversations with museums, galleries, arts centres and other civic and cultural organisations interested in exploring how art therapy might sit within their setting.

Each partnership is developed collaboratively, taking account of the organisation, its communities, the space and what the work is intended to offer.

Interested?
Please get in touch to discuss what might work for your organisation. Together we can design a rhythm of support that suits your organisation’s needs.