Re-framing is a tool used by counselors and other therapists to help a person see the same situation in a different way. When someone gets stuck in a situation, they sometimes need help to accomplish a re-frame. However, it doesn’t hurt to try the exercise on your own.

I have had a print of this van Gogh on my wall for several years.

Looking at the picture:

• the lower portion is a golden wheat field with a man harvesting
• there is a gray sliver (long, skinny, triangular) just above the golden field
• behind the grey sliver section are some houses, more fields, mountains
• at the top of the picture is the sky with a big sun

So, for many months I “saw” the grey sliver behind the golden field as a wall. More recently, I reoriented my vision and now see that grey sliver as the next field over. Instead of a barrier, that grey sliver is the next horizon. Where I got the first “wall” idea I cannot say.

The above is a concrete example of a visual re-frame. Verbal re-frames are very similar. What sounds like one thing, may be another. The barrier may actually be a new horizon… and so on.

Verbal re-eframe: So you lost your job? That’s a bummer… Of course at the old job you felt stuck and thought you could do more… Now you can go out and find something challenging to do that will tap your full potential!

Of course you have to really trust the person who says this and the timing needs to be right as well.

P.S. I found an image and the name of my print at this great van Gogh web-site.