Adlerian reframing: a quality the client sees as a shortcoming is reconsidered as a resource or a strength used inefficiently. "Stubbornness" becomes "persistence", "anxiety" becomes "sensitivity to danger", "dependence" becomes "the capacity for closeness".
Step-by-step guide
- Listen to how the client describes their 'shortcoming'
- Find the resource side of this quality
- Offer a reformulation: 'What if we looked at this differently?'
- Discuss: how to use this quality constructively?
- Link to the courage to be imperfect
When to use
- When the client criticizes themselves for 'bad' qualities
- In low self-esteem and devaluation
- To develop self-acceptance
- When the client sees only the negatives
Key phrases
You say you are stubborn. What if this is persistence directed in the wrong place?
Your anxiety is sensitivity. The question is — sensitive to what, and how to use it
Follow-up questions
When has this quality helped you?
How could you direct this energy constructively?
Alternative phrasings
Imagine this is not a bug, but a feature. How would you use it?
If a friend described themselves this way — what would you say to them?
Warnings
- ⚠️ Do not devalue the client's suffering — acknowledge the pain first, then reframe
- ⚠️ Do not turn it into positive thinking: 'everything's fine!' — that is not reframing
- ⚠️ Reframing works after empathy, not instead of it
Source: Carlson J. Watts R. Maniacci M. Adlerian Therapy: Theory and Practice
Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.