My therapist often points out the push/pull. That we have a session, or a few sessions, that feels really good, and I feel at ease, can talk ('flow' as she calls it), our exploring creates many branches with lots of little offshoots.
Then, she isn't surprised when suddenly that's gone, and I'm ill at ease, very pulled back, have little ability to expand, no offshoots and lucky to even create branches. I get very frustrated and disappointed in me/her/therapy then, which makes everything worse.

It's taken a lot of time and repeated cycles, and many times of her pointing this pattern out to me, for me to even begin to get it. So, now I can see it coming like a runaway train, but I can't change it yet. Some day, though, I expect to be able to.