Chapter 10
REFLECTION OF MEANING AND
INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING:
RESTORYING CLIENT LIVES THROUGH
MEANING MAKING
How can the skills of reflection of meaning and interpretation/reframing help you and
your clients?
Chapter 10, “Reflection of Meaning and Interpretation/Reframing: Restorying Client
Lives Through Meaning Making,” discusses the use of these closely related skills to
CHAPTER GOALS
Awareness, knowledge, skills, and actions developed through the concepts of this chapter
will enable you to:
▲ Understand reflection of meaning and interpretation/reframing and their similarities
and differences.
INTRODUCTION
Over time, we have noted that clients responded very differently when we reflected
words such as meaning, value, intent, and belief. Further, we have often found that
practice with this skill is particularly important. Students often repeat the same topic in
This is one of those skills that gains importance to us over time. We have included some
additional thoughts on the role of spirituality and meaning and find that students really
respond positively to this area.
Interpretation/reframing. This skill, of course, is worth a course in itself. If students are
relative beginners, we prefer to skip over this skill lightly and focus mainly on the
positive reframing of client experience. If students are more experienced, several sessions
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER AND MINDTAP SUPPORT
DEFINING THE SKILLS OF REFLECTION OF MEANING AND
INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
Definitions and examples of reflection of meaning and interpretation/reframing are
presented in this section. The case of Charlis, a workaholic manager who has suffered a
heart attack, is presented, and her case is discussed showing similarities and differences
between reflecting meaning and interpretation/reframing. Also discussed here are Linking
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
1. Case Study: Finding Family Balance in Greece: A Universal Problem. How would you
use reflection of meaning and interpretation/reframing to help Katerina?
3. Weblink: Religion and Spirituality.
5. Weblink: Feminist Therapy.
7. Weblink: American Psychological Association (APA), Just the Facts About Sexual
Orientation and Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators, and School.
9. Weblink: Heterosexuals Questionnaire.
11. Weblink: Men’s Resources.
12. Weblink: Women’s Resources.
OBSERVING THE SKILLS OF REFLECTION OF MEANING AND
INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
The session with Travis illustrates how interpretation/reframing and reflection of
meaning are central skills in helping clients take a new perspective on current life
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
2. Interactive Exercise: Identifying/Classifying Meaning. Practice how to help a person
clarify the meaning of his or her situation.
4. Interactive Exercise: Discernment Exercise: Your Future in Interviewing, Counseling
5. Group Practice Exercise: Group Practice with Reflection of Meaning
PRACTICING THE SKILLS OF ELICITING AND REFLECTINGON OF
MEANING AND INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
Various individual and group exercises are offered to help master the skills of eliciting
and reflection of meaning and interpretation/reframing.
1. Group Practice Exercise: Group Practice with interpretation/reframing.
REFINING THE SKILLS OF ELICITING AND REFLECTING MEANING AND
INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
Eliciting client meaning through careful listening and questions is first explored. This is
followed by pointing out that a reflection of meaning looks like a paraphrase or a
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
1. Interactive Exercise: Interpretation/Reframe. Practice interpretations to provide
DEMONSTRATIONS AND VIDEOS TO SUPPLEMENT ESSENTIALS OF
INTENTIONAL INTERVIEWING, Third Edition
• Live instructor demonstration.
• Tapes developed by ourselves and students over the years. Consider the possibility of
saving good modeling tapes developed in your classes as examples.
• Advanced Microskills and Strategies: Humanistic Therapy and Psychodynamic
CLASS PROCEDURES: REFLECTION OF MEANING
1. Brainstorming alternatives. We like to show the relationship of reflection of meaning
to interpretation by showing a brief video or discussing a recent personal experience.
We then ask students, “What personal meaning do you get from what the client says
2. Introduction. The functions and definitions of reflection of meaning may have to be
spelled out in detail. You may want to discuss the sequence of open questions that
seems to be required before one reflects meaning. A useful introduction is to read a
client statement of deeper personal concern, values, or spirituality and then have
3. Example of the skill in action. Be sure that students understand distinctions between
5. Practice.
GROUP PRACTICE WITH REFLECTION OF MEANING
Step 1: Divide into practice groups.
Step 2: Select a group leader.
Step 3: Assign roles for the first practice session.
Step 4: Plan. For practice with this skill, it will be most helpful if the interview starts with
the client’s completing one of the following model sentences. The interview will
then follow along, exploring the attitudes, values, and meanings to the client
underlying the sentence
• “My thoughts about spirituality are . . .”
• “My thoughts about moving from this area to another are . . .”
A few alternative topics are “My closest friend,” “Someone who made me feel
very angry (or happy),” and “A place where I feel very comfortable and happy.”
meanings and values. The interviewer should search for key words in the client
response and use those key words in questioning, encouraging, and reflecting. A
useful sequence of microskills for eliciting meaning from the model sentence is
(1) an open question, such as “Could you tell me more about that?” “What does
that mean to you?” or “How do you make sense of that?”; (2) encouragers and
CLASS PROCEDURES: INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
1. Introduction. The functions and definitions of interpretation/reframing are spelled
2. Example of the skill in action. Be sure that students understand distinctions between
5. Practice.
GROUP PRACTICE WITH INTERPRETATION/REFRAMING
Step 1: Divide into practice groups.
Step 2: Select a group leader.
Step 3: Assign roles for the first practice session.
is to draw out the client story/problem/concern and then provide an alternative
perspective via at least one interpretation/reframe. This is a skill that is only used
occasionally and is best used in conjunction with careful listening. The
Observers should study the Feedback Form and note the effectiveness of bringing
out the client’s story as well as the use and effectiveness of the
interpretation/reframe.
Step 5: Conduct a 5-minute practice session using the skill. Allow enough time for the
story to be told and for the interviewer to make at least one interpretation/reframe
and the client enough time to think through and respond to the alternative
perspective.