Can’t. Let. Go.
Has problem. can’t let go of problem even though they want to.
So begins the tug of war/dance/chess game to loosen up the grip on the problem, so the problem han be dropped.
Time consuming, energy draining and hard work for all.
Sometimes there is another way which takes a little subtlety but encouraging and gently provoking the client to do the problem more, in a humorous way, with outrageous solutions & suggestions and on a massive scale can help blowing the problem out. No matter how odd this sounds, this frequently works, leaving he client chuckling about the problem, or confused as they are having to think about the problem in a new way, as the old place holder for the problem doesn’t ‘seem the same.
Think of our lady in the picture. She isn’t giving up the book. You try to take it from her on her request, she holds it tighter.
So, instead of fighting against the pull, you go with it, and add your push to her pull. End result is either the book will be dropped
[so she can catch her own fall] or the grip will be massively loosened.
Having a non combative approach is a highly useful skill set. I got my provocation skills honed from Nick Kemp, the creator of Provocative Change Works. That was quite a few years ago though, back in 2010 and speaking to him discovered how his model has developed further.