HOLDING THE HOLDER

A six-week online series for restorative justice practitioners and others in care-based fields — to pause, reconnect, and remember what sustains you

Those of us who work in care-based fields spend our professional lives holding space for others — stories of grief, harm, courage and hope.Over time, that weight accumulates. Especially when personal struggles or difficult workplace dynamics make everything harder to carry.Holding the Holder was born from two simple questions: Who is holding you? How can we hold each other?
This series is our offering.This is not a training. This is a place for our community of people working in care-based fields. We believe practitioners learn most deeply when they are genuinely seen and heard by one another — and that is exactly what this space is for.

Who is this for?

This series is for you if you work in restorative justice, conflict transformation, probation, research, social care, education, or any field that asks you to show up fully for others — day after day.It is for you if something feels off right now — or if you have been through a difficult period and are still finding your way back. If some part of you is quietly asking for a pause.It is also for you if you have come through a difficult time and are now in a place where you can reflect — and perhaps share with others what helped you find your way back. This series values that wisdom, and wants to assemble a community of practitioners at different stages, learning from each other.Lived experience is one of the most powerful things we can offer each other.

The six weeks structure

How does it work?• Six consecutive weeks, one 90-minute session per week on Zoom. Starting in the third week of September.Two options:
Option 1: Mondays 6h30 - 8h00 pm London Time
Option 2: Fridays 10h30 am - 12 pm London time• A small group of no more than twelve people (including the facilitators) with the same people throughout.
• What is shared within the group stays within the group. We value confidentiality.Each weekly online session moves through:• Arrival and grounding — a short breathing or body awareness exercise to help you leave the day behind and arrive fully in the space.
• Restorative spaces — a structured, facilitated circle or a breakout room with a clear theme each week (see the six themes below). A talking piece ensures everyone has equal space to speak and is genuinely heard. You are never put on the spot. Passing is always welcome.
• Embodied and creative practice — a guided practice that happens together on Zoom. Creativity reaches what words cannot — it slows us down, moves us out of our heads and into our bodies, and gives form to what we did not know we were carrying. It might be making marks on paper in response to the circle, or a short somatic exercise noticing what your body is holding. Always guided, always optional, never about producing something good.
• Closing reflection (10 minutes) — one sentence around the circle before you leave.Between sessions:• You will be paired with a buddy for light, optional check-ins.
• You will be invited to a small moment of 'me time' — cooking, walking, gardening, dancing, sitting with music. Whatever belongs entirely to you.
• You will be invited to keep a journal — your personal thread across the six weeks. A word, a colour, a drawing, a pressed leaf. No rules, no expectations.A note on the creative practice:
You do not need to feel creative. Everything is guided and happens together on Zoom. You need nothing more than some coloured pencils or pastels and a journal. There is no right way.

The 6 themes

Week 1 Values and Challenges: What brought us to this work — and what is being tested in us right now.
Week 2 The Relationship between Holding Space and Art: Exploring what creativity and restorative practice share, and what each can offer the other.
Week 3 What are we Grieving?: Making space for what has been hard, what has been lost, and what has not yet been witnessed.
Week 4 Being Held: Nature, Ancestors and Culture: Reconnecting with what is larger than the work — the living world, where we come from, what sustains us.
Week 5 In, Out and the Creative Self: Reclaiming time and space that belongs entirely to you — where you are not performing, not planning, just you.
Week 6 Boundaries, Rituals and Continuity: How we protect what matters, mark our transitions, and carry what we have built into life beyond the series.

Investment

Early bird: €165 — (€27.50 per week), available until the 20th of July.Standard: €190 — (€31.66 per week) after the 20th of July.

What your investment includes:• Six 90-minute live sessions on Zoom
• Curated programme — restorative circle, embodiment and creativity
• Session preparation and debrief between facilitators
• Facilitation by two experienced circle-keepers and restorative justice practitioners
• A personal creative journal process building across all six weeks
• Weekly light-touch personal practices
• Personal buddy pair for connection
Estimated total value: €450

Payment plans available — contact us at [email protected]
A small number of bursary places are available for those for whom this investment would be a genuine barrier. Please reach out directly and we will find a way.

About Lili and Jolene

Lili Lapouge
Restorative Practitioner, Circle Keeper, Project Manager, Researcher, Mother, Art Enthusiast

For a long time, I thought resilience meant continuing. Keeping going. Carrying complexity well.But over the years — through restorative work, research, circles, institutional abuse cases, burnout, motherhood, grief, and healing — I began to realise that sometimes the most restorative thing we can do is pause long enough to hear ourselves again.I have been lucky enough to witness spaces of deep human pain and courage: restorative processes with survivors of abuse, healing circles, workshops in prison, research on violent crime and gender-based violence — across many parts of the world. I have lived and worked in seven countries, and recently settled in Portugal, in a very green, calm place by the ocean.I am someone who cares deeply, works with intensity, and feels things fully. I have learned that the same sensitivity that makes me good at this work also makes me more vulnerable to carrying too much. Protecting myself is not a weakness. It is how I stay true to what I believe in.I spent years listening to stories that changed me. Slowly I understood that practitioners, too, need spaces where we are witnessed and cared for.I believe it is time to deepen the conversation about self-care for practitioners. That is what this series is for.

Jolene Scullion
Restorative Justice Practitioner, Circle Keeper, Researcher, Educator, Mother and living-in-the-moment enthusiast

I came to restorative practice the way many of us come to the things that matter most — through need.My world had imploded, and I was looking for a way through. What I found named what I had always believed, and gave me a path back to myself.When I walked through that door, something in me recognised it immediately. Not intellectually, but in my bones. The belief that people matter. That harm does not have to be the final word.Restorative practice didn't teach me those things. It named what I had always known. And during the hardest time of my life, it gave me light.I spent nearly two decades in education across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, before building a practice spanning schools, community settings and prisons — facilitating circles, training practitioners, and working with young people on healthy relationships.Having returned to the North of Ireland after years abroad, I bring a grounded understanding of belonging and dialogue in divided and recovering communities.Holding the Holder comes from all of that, and from the belief that you deserve a space like this too.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does it run?
Six consecutive weeks from the 3rd week in September 2026, one 90-minute session per week, online. The exact day and time will be confirmed closer to the start date.
Two options:
Option 1: Mondays 6h30 - 8h00 pm London Time. Starting Sept 14th
Option 2: Fridays 10h30 am - 12 pm London time. Starting Sept 18th.Who is this series for?
This series is designed primarily for restorative justice practitioners, researchers, mediators, probation officers and others in care-based fields. If you are unsure whether it is for you, please reach out — we would love to have a brief conversation.How many people will be in the group?
We are accepting a maximum of twelve participants. If we reach that number, the group will be split into two circles of six for the restorative circle portion of each session, with one facilitator holding each circle. This ensures the depth and intimacy that restorative work requires, while allowing more practitioners to benefit from the series.Will I be with the same group throughout?
Yes. The same small group of people across all six weeks. That continuity is the foundation of everything.What platform do you use?
Sessions take place on Zoom. You will receive a link before each session.Do I need any artistic or creative experience?
Not at all. This is not about making good art. It is about using creativity as a way back to yourself — in whatever form calls to you. Drawing, writing, photography, cooking, dancing — all of it counts. No skill required.What does the personal practice between sessions involve?
It is light and entirely optional. Each week a small personal invitation — something that takes ten to thirty minutes and belongs entirely to you. Nothing to complete, nothing to hand in.What do I need?
A device with camera and microphone, a quiet space, and ideally an unlined A5 journal and a few simple art materials — coloured pencils, pastels, whatever calls to you. We suggest visiting an art shop before the series begins with a budget of around €30. Think of it as your first act of self-care.Are sessions recorded?
No. And we will emphasise privacy. What is shared in the circle stays in the circle.Is the series in English?
Yes.What is your refund policy?
Full refund if you withdraw before the series begins. Once started, we are unable to offer refunds but will always try to find a solution.Not sure yet if this is for you?
Please reach out — we'd love to talk.Any other questions?
Write to us at [email protected] — we would love to hear from you.

Register your Interest

THANK YOU FOR READING. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON.