Reframing & Positive Connotation, Essay Example

Reframing offers the gift of perspective. As practiced by MRI therapists, reframing provides a way for clients to begin to see the behavior of their loved ones in a different light, perhaps a not so irritating/hurtful/frightening way. The central idea is that human beings interpret the world through categories, categories that link behaviors: thus, if my wife always seems to be busy, stressed, and tired, then it must mean that our relationship is not very high on her list of priorities. So, to take this example, if I believe this is the source of the problems in my marriage, my therapist might sit us both down and offer a reframe: perhaps my wife works as hard as she does because she is committed to doing her part to maintain our livelihood. The therapist has interrupted my narrative about my wife with a different way to look at the issue. This is the gift of perspective (Gehart, 2014, pp. 62-65; Sharf, 2012, pp. 565-567).

The Milan-style positive connotation is similar, attributing benevolent intentions to even problematic behavior. In the example above, perhaps my wife doesn’t want to trouble me because she knows I also work hard, and she’s afraid of unloading all of her complaints at the end of a long day. The approach is very similar to the MRI school’s reframing: it provides a different way to look at the problem. The goal, too, is to help clients view the behavior of loved ones in a way that will produce better behavior. The aim is also to encourage clients by removing any felt need they may have to defend their behavior (Gehart, 2014, pp. 88, 95; Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, Strom-Gottfried, & Larsen, 2010, p. 562). However, the two are not precisely the same: the positive connotation of the Milan approach has less of an emphasis on categorization of behavior, and more of an emphasis on intent. Another difference: reframing as practiced by MRI therapists has more of an emphasis on the plausibility of the thing suggested (Gehart, 2014, pp. 62, 95). The two are overall very similar, however, and do many of the same things for clients in offering them the gift of a different perspective.

References

Gehart, D. (2014). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical approach to theory and clinical case documentation (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Hepworth, D., Rooney, R., Rooney, G. D., Strom-Gottfried, K., & Larsen, J. A. (2010). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (8^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Sharf, R. (2012). Theories of psychotherapy & counseling: Concepts and cases (5^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.