Addiction Recovery

Reframing Thoughts – An Effective Sobriety Tool to Help You Get ‘Unstuck’

Reframing thoughts is a very common technique that counselors will go used to help people gain new perspective, and have a paradigm shift, get ‘unstuck’, if you are stalled at a plateau. There are a couple of common mindsets in addiction and addiction recovery that can stall your forward progress.

1. Having tunnel vision – This is essentially focusing on one narrow point of view, your own. Sometimes it is very difficult to accept that there other possibilities and that you may not be right.

2. Black-and-white thinking – this is simply looking at things in an all or nothing, hot or cold, love it or hate it type of way. Sometimes people active in their addiction or in early recovery have a very difficult time realizing that not everything is black and white sometimes the solution may lie in between in the gray area.

Reframing your thoughts can best be described as looking at a problem from an entirely different point of view. Often, the only way to do this is with the help of a friend, confidant, or counselor.

Here are 2 examples of reframing:

Hereis what reframing looks like in practice.I have used reframing thoughts in my capacity as an addictions counselor with people who have relapsed back into drug and alcohol use. Often, when they return to treatment it is difficult for them to see anything else but failure, shame and guilt. This is how they view themselves and the relapse, and that state of mind generates feelings of depression and helplessness.

I would reframe their return to treatment by saying that I can understand and empathize with your feelings, but I take a different point of view. What I see is somebody who is very courageous and who would not let fear stand in their way. Becoming sober must be very important to you to risk those feelings of embarrassment and shame that you feel by returning to treatment. That shows me a great deal strength and courage rather than weakness and failure.

Here is another example of reframing thoughts. I was working with a patient who was so angry at being forced into treatment through a family and professional intervention that he couldn’t let it go and start engaging in treatment. During one of his rants about how his family was so unfair andtreating him badly,I simply stated “They must love you very much”. He became very quiet, reflected on that for a whileand from that point onward the patient could let go of the anger toward family and move forward with treatment.

If you are having difficulties with a situation, picture it through another set of eyes. For instance, imagine your mind actually leaving your body behind, entering someone else’s head and then looking at the problem through their point of view. If you are having relationship trouble with your spouse try to visualize entering their mind and seeing the problem through their eyes with their perspective. It may put a whole different slant on things.

Reframing your thoughts is just one tool available to be added your sobriety toolbox.

Bonus Tip: and now I would like to invite you to access even more tips and strategies to help with your addiction recovery. You may also claim our Free, massive Recovery Help Resource Guide. To gain instant access, visit us at: http://AddictionRecoveryBasics.com

Thank you from Bill Urell and the Addiction Recovery Basics Network.