Читать книгу Counseling the Contemporary Woman - Suzanne Degges-White - Страница 29

These two related techniques are common to many cognitive-behavioral therapeutic orientations and are used to provide clients with the power to alter, or renegotiate, their perceptions of situations or circumstances that they have allowed to negatively affect them.

Relabeling is the practice of replacing a negative description of a characteristic with a more positive word. For instance, if a woman has been called “mannish” due to a more muscular or stereotypically masculine physique, the therapist might suggest that the client brainstorm alternative adjectives to describe herself. She could be encouraged to replace the negative or hurtful word with a substitute such as “healthy” or “strong.” Language is filled with gendered adjectives that can create covert obstacles for clients owning aspects of their identities that do not fit these gendered expectations. Encouraging clients to be creative in how they express themselves and their identities returns to them the power to own their choices and embrace all aspects of their identities.

Reframing is similar but typically is used to translate a potentially negative circumstance or event into a more positive experience. For instance, reframing could be used when a client is not hired for a specific position or is not accepted into a specific training program. She can be encouraged to see the perceived roadblock as an opportunity to seek out a better fitting position or career. Clients often get mired in negative thinking and feel overwhelmed by external circumstances. Helping clients to reframe disappointing or distressing experiences and to shift their perspective to a more empowered stance may help them become “unstuck” and develop new goals. Reframing an experience returns power to clients to take ownership in their interpretation and reaction to events over which they may feel little control.