Hand holding is the act of providing guidance, attention, and encouragement to someone. It should not be confused for holding hands which is just literally holding another person's hand or handhold which is a place to grip usually in the context of climbing. Hand holding conjures images of a parent holding the hand of their child to comfort or keep track of them or a person being led around in a condescending fashion. While there are a myriad of occasions to use the term it is usually deployed when providing instructions on how to complete a task and implies some clingy neediness on the part of the recipient or a smothering quality on the part of the person helping. A person who needs hand holding requires every little detail be explained to them. In the same way a person or thing which provides too much hand holding will begin to chafe.
Hand holding has roughly quadrupled in usage since 2004 according to Google trends. As a pejorative way of saying helping or assisting it comes up in the context of frustrating interactions. As such it has become more relevant as more people move into the service sector. A caller needs hand holding through the software installation process. A restaurant patron needs hand holding when choosing wine. A trainee needs hand holding when using the new machinery. Possibly the most aggravating instances are in media. A book or movie hand holds by explaining the same plot point three times because you might have forgotten. The M rated game hand holds with a trigger warning for the content that got you to buy it in the first place. It's a bit sad that we need a word for unwanted or resentful help but it does outline that assistance is not some unalloyed good. Still, it's probably better to error in the direction of hand holding. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
IRON NODER XVII: ALL'S FERROUS IN LOVE AND NODING