The Chinese finger trap is a good illustration of the law of reverse effect: try something and get the opposite. The framework is helpful to remember when working with psychological protections (i.e., “spacesuits”). When we push or confront, we may get resistance.

Working with “spacesuits” is part of the art of therapy. Still, there are points to keep in mind.

“Houston, I feel a lot of water on the back of my head.”  Instructed to return forty-five minutes into a maintenance repair spacewalk on the International Space Station, astronaut Luca Parmitano had a water coolant leak of unknown origin in his spacesuit.  Maneuvering around an antenna with his feet to the sky, “that’s when things got bad.”  First, water dislodged,