ABSTRACT
Originally designed as a fun children’s toy, Chinese finger traps (or cuffs) fortuitously make a fantastic metaphor for acceptance. The toy itself is a woven bamboo or nylon tube that, once fingers are stuck into it, tightens its grip if one attempts to pull out. They are typically available from online retailers. The metaphor is used to give a physical structure as to what acceptance can look and feel like. It brings it alive in a concrete way, since it relies on direct experience, and in this way de-emphasises some of the derived functions of anxiety.
