reframe
Reading time: 3 1/2 minutes
Cherilyn Schutze MEd., LPC
WE ALL HAVE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, OR COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS, FROM TIME TO TIME. THEY HAPPEN WHEN WE BELIEVE THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES OR OUR WORLD THAT AREN’T NECESSARILY TRUE.
When cognitive distortions take over our thinking and become habitual, they can lead to mental health issues such as low self- esteem, depression, anxiety, and irritability among other things. This is where reframing comes to the rescue.
Reframing is a way of looking at a problem or a thought from a different perspective allowing for more flexibility in your thinking. Cognitive reframing helps you take a negative thought or situation and turn it into an opportunity for growth and healing. Looking at a problem or a thought from a different perspective creates flexibility in your thinking.
There are many types of negative thoughts--cognitive distortions-- for which reframing can be helpful. Here are just a few:
All or nothing thinking- Things are either black or white. There is no other option.
Catastrophizing- Thinking of the worst case scenario and believing it will come true
Mental filters- Only focusing on the negative without taking positives into consideration
Shoulds- Judging yourself; feeling that you didn’t or won’t live up to a certain expectation you held or still hold, or that you believed others held or hold for you. That you “should have…” or “I should…
Feelings are facts: Believing that because you feel a certain way, it must be true. For example, “I feel like no one likes me, so I must be unlikeable”
Mind reading: Assuming that you know what someone else is thinking, and believing it to be true
Changing negative thought habits is often one of the main goals of therapy, because if you keep doing what you're doing (or thinking), you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Is that working for you? Most likely it isn’t. It’s only making things worse.
In my last blog post, I talked about how reframing creates new connections and pathways in the brain, lowering the negative reactivity of your emotional brain (the amygdala) and leading to a more positive way of thinking, a more positive self image and a more positive outlook overall. Remember, you don’t even have to believe the reframe yet. Just the mere action of changing thoughts and beliefs from negative to positive is a learning experience for your brain, teaching it to do things differently. Our brains learn by doing.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
This is my favorite quote by Dr. Wayne Dyer. Changing the way you look at things is how we reframe our thoughts, our perspective, our outlook. Reframing is one of the most powerful tools we can use to not only change negative thought patterns, but also to change our brains!
In this era of COVID, we’ve all had to do quite a bit of reframing in order to get through the uncertainties and changes that come with dealing with a pandemic. While it is a scary, unpredictable time, many people have turned the “stay home orders” into an opportunity to spend more time with their families, to learn new skills, and to even recognize the need to find ways to improve their mental health. We all had to make a cognitive shift to deal with a situation that none of us had or have control over. That’s called reframing.
Using that example, one might have had the thought, “I hate that I am forced to stay home.” How could this thought be reframed to make a difficult situation more palatable? Maybe something like,
“THIS SITUATION GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH MY FAMILY THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE OTHERWISE.”
It is important to note that we get to choose what we think about and where we spend our energy. We can take lessons from the difficulties in our lives, find the meaning in those hard times and in that way, give the struggle purpose by reframing it, making it an opportunity for growth. Reframing doesn’t mean pretending you don’t have feelings about the situation. It’s just a way of looking at it through a different lens.
Changing the way we look at “things” whether that be our own inner self talk, the noise of the world around us, or just how we live each day, can be life changing. I’ve seen it with my clients over and over again.
Changing the way you think, changes the way you feel.
Cognitive reframing has been shown to be effective in reducing, and in some cases even eliminating, symptoms of many different issues including: Addiction, Anxiety, Chronic pain, Depression, Eating disorders, Insomnia, Pain disorders, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Social anxiety disorder, and Stress.*
It has also been shown to be a valuable tool to help people with: Caregiving, Grief and loss, Low self-esteem, Positivity, and Relationship issues.**
THE NEXT TIME YOU FIND YOURSELF JUDGING, WORRYING, MIND -READING, ETC., NOTICE WHICH COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY USING AND THEN TRY REFRAMING BY ASKING YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Is thinking this way helping/serving me?
What is another possibility?
What other options are there?
What would I say to a friend who is thinking this way or dealing with this same situation?
What meaning or lesson can I take away from this situation?
*© 2021 Amgen Inc. All rights reserved.
** https://www.verywellmind.com/reframing-defined-2610419
