Reframing: what it is, varieties, exercises and examples

“He went beyond what is permitted” - we hear this phrase when a person has committed something contrary to generally accepted rules. But, as you know, in every rule there are exceptions. Sometimes you just need to go beyond. This method of solving the problem even has a name - “reframing”.

The name comes from the English word "frame", which in translation means "frame". Hence the word reframe is formed, which in various versions of the translation sounds like “paste into the same frame”, “paste into a new frame”. In simple terms, this is a "change the frame." This method is often used in NLP. With it, you can change the thinking or perception of an event, rethink it, change patterns.

With the help of speech strategies, psychologists can influence the orientation of the personality. The "steps" that a specialist will take will be your behavior, complexes, fears. With the help of reframing, you can get rid of anxiety, get out of a depressed state. This is achieved due to the fact that a person begins to look at a traumatic or sad situation or event from a different angle.

Primarily, The reframing method is widely used in psychology to relieve emotional stress, change behavior, activate personal qualities, and reveal creative potential. To do this, psychologists make the client look at the problem or the question that worries him on the other hand, find positive touches in the picture, which initially seems gloomy to the person. As a result, you will go through life with your head held high.

Reframing is often used in management. The method is suitable when business reorganization is needed or if it is required to bring it to a higher level. Thus, the forms of management are changing, qualified personnel are being found, the potential of the team is being revealed. The method is also suitable for uniting large groups, forming their sense of responsibility and devotion to the cause and company. Reframing makes you want to improve.

Reframing also helps in sales. An experienced seller can always persuade the buyer to change his point of view. For example, if a customer is waiting for a discount on a product, he can be told that your store already has the lowest price in the city. If an adherent of a popular brand has visited your recently opened department, you can convince him to buy from you when you explain that the company is not wasting money on expensive advertising. So, the product, although cheaper, is no worse than the one produced by the more famous brand.

Recently, the word "reframing" appeared in education. Although they used it in this area, perhaps always. A good teacher, for whom it is important that the student understands the subject, will surely offer him several options for familiarizing himself with the material. Does your child not like chemistry? And if you look at this science from the other side? Take him to a museum of entertaining sciences, for example. After he sees a demonstration of various spectacular experiments there, he will most likely go to the next chemistry lesson in high spirits.

Reframing helps to change a person’s value system. But before using such a technique, a specialist should determine what is bothering you, and only then choose a method for performing this method. There are two of them.

Implies impact with a word. The specialist will change the context of the situation that excites you. It will give it a new semantic meaning, tell you why this or that behavior is impossible or, on the contrary, is suitable in each specific case.

Helps a person see a different meaning in what is happening. The emphasis in his head changes. Attention shifts from a problem or even fixation on it to its solution.

Here are the main goals and objectives of reframing:

• anxiety removal;
• change of behavior;
• ability discovery;
• identifying opportunities.

The most famous and effective among psychologists is the option designed for six steps or steps.

• Step 1. We formulate and voice what excites us. We denote the problem in the form of a certain letter, number, or simply paint it in some specific color.
• Step 2 We are trying to start a dialogue with the part of consciousness that is responsible for this situation in life. Try to call her to account. It is important to determine how you will communicate with her, what you want to receive, there are enough unambiguous answers like “yes” and “no” or you are waiting for some physical sensations in the body.
• Step 3. Ask this very part of you to tell what it is doing with its behavior. Offer her another, more acceptable solution to the problem. If one is not found, ask yourself the question of whether your goal is actually aimed at positive.
• Step 4 We begin a dialogue with another, creative part of ourselves. We set her the task to come up with 3 alternative forms of behavior to achieve the goal. We transfer the received data to the part that created us problems.
• Step 5 We sit down at the "negotiation table." We conclude a "non-aggression pact" and no longer touch the previously used methods. If your subconscious mind agrees to one of the proposed options, let it begin to apply these principles. If not, promise him to return to the old scheme, but only after it nevertheless tries all the proposed ways of doing things.
• Step 6 We are looking for enemies and allies.Ask the first part of the subconscious mind if it has neighboring parts of your essence that want to participate in the experiment. Take an interest in those that are against. Enemies need to know in person.

Cognitive reframing will help change your mind about events that you think are negative. You will begin to treat them more positively or even change your view of them.

Most of us tend to exaggerate. therefore one must learn to see charms even in the most unpleasant. Do not self-flagellate. Before saying that this is hopeless, try to find internal reserves, they probably are. In the end, after the black stripe always comes white, our task is not to go astray under the influence of gloom. Don't give up.

Remember what causes you aggression. Try to learn to stop her attacks. Are you disconcerted by the fact that your more experienced colleagues constantly teach you something? Treat conversations with them as free lessons. Or, on the contrary, are you stupid young colleagues mad? So try to treat them like your little children - sooner or later they will be grateful to you for the lessons. Anger is not the best helper. Change it to mercy, changing your attitude to what is happening.

Try to think logically. There is no need to replace concepts, just find more positive explanations for them. For example, you are tired of endless business trips, but you managed to read so much on the road! Or you often change the situation, but it’s good for the psyche, you are practically freed from household chores, you do not need to cook dinner.

Positive reframing is used to inspire optimism in a person. A person who has lost meaning in life, he will help to find goals and go to them. Here, one concept should be replaced by another. For example, treat the problem as an opportunity to change something.

Find words to tame your unwillingness or inability to achieve something. Instead of “I must” say to yourself “I want”, instead of “I really hope” - “I know for sure”, instead of “oh, horror” - “this is a chance to get a new experience” and so on.

It may seem to many of us that we are a whole bunch of problems, and all because we are not able to cope with some traits of our own character or some habits. Try and look at them differently. If you think that you are too demanding of yourself and others, then you may have set the bar to a prohibitive height and do not want to lower it.

It seems to you that you are too dry and emotionally stingy in relation to loved ones? But it may be that you give them something more when you take the whole company to nature or buy your daughter the doll she dreamed about so much. You just do not speak, but do, and it expresses your feelings much more than just words. You have already begun to smile, which means that reframing works.

If you decide to refram the organization, then remember that you will have to overcome not only your fears and concerns. You have to defend your point of view in front of the team. So, stock up on words that even the most fierce opponents of reform will make assistants and allies. First tell people the positive changes that await them, and only then move on to what will have to be done and what will have to be lost.

There are many receptions showing how one can change one’s attitude to the situation and to oneself. Here are just some of them.

This exercise can be performed without the help of a specialist. Take a piece of paper and write down 5 of your qualities that you think are negative.Each one begins with the words "I am too." For example, “I am too greedy”, “I am too capricious”, “I am too boring”, “I eat too much”, “I am too serious”. Now let's look at these your qualities in a different way.

Enter the result in the next column. You are not greedy, but economical, because, unlike a neighbor, you never borrow money to pay. You are not capricious, but demanding, and as a result you always get what you want. You do not eat much, but it’s tasty and healthy and you have no problems with appetite, as well as with sleep, by the way. You are not so much serious as you are ambitious and purposeful. Therefore, you do everything on time, unlike most of your colleagues.

This exercise can be performed independently, but it is better to organize such a game in a company of several people. Everyone's task is to come up with a positive epithet for a person who is initially characterized negatively. For example, a "bore" does not lose time in vain, clearly follows his goal, knows how to resist temptations. “Arrogant” is a person who knows his own worth, experienced, and therefore has the right to give advice, a person who has achieved much in life.

To complete this exercise you need at least two people. One speaks to another a certain unpleasant word, the task of the second is to quickly put him in his place. For example, you were called fat. Your answer is “but men like curvaceous.” Or you hear that you are a bummer. The answer may be the following: "but I do not know what fatigue is."

Let's look at a few examples of how to apply reframing in our own lives.

• Your boss is too demanding. You are afraid of every conversation with him. Look at this from the other side: consider the leader as your mentor, who, like the teacher at school, is committed to ensuring that you get the maximum amount of knowledge.
• You stayed in one place while your colleagues ran up the career ladder. But you do not stay up late at work, and spend the weekend with your family.
• Your children, even you yourself call robbers. They don't sit still for a minute. But they are unlikely to ever have complexes, they are not threatened with excess weight, they are more developed. And you help to get it.