Chapter 19 - Reframing

The concept of reframing is to allow clients to adopt a more positive or constructive perspective of a problem by examining it and presenting it in a new way. The goal of this technique is to help clients to see a given situation from another viewpoint, making it seem less of a problem, and therefore paving the way for a possible solution. There are three steps to implement this process: the counselor must use nonjudgmental listening to gain understanding of the problem, must build a bridge from the client’s point of view to a new way of looking at the problem, and must reinforce the bridge until there is a shift in perspective on the part of the client. The book portrays the use of this technique with a woman who is experiencing depressed mood, helplessness, and despair. The counselor in this situation first got a full idea of what was putting the client in her current state then used exceptions or other options to help to reframe the client’s thought process about her current situation. Though the facts of the client’s situation did not change by the end of the process, her viewpoint of the situation changed to a more positive one. This technique can be applied to a variety of other situations where a client has a negative viewpoint to reframe their thoughts in a more positive way in order to make it easier for them to find a solution to their current problem. For instance, it can be used in family therapy where members might be placing blame on other members. It can also be used in cases of addiction for either the person who is addicted or those who are enabling the addiction. I believe that this technique can be very helpful to use with clients who are experiencing negative thought processes or seem to be “stuck” in a situation they consider to be negative.