Positive Interpretation as a Tool in Psychotherapy

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to highlight the power of positive interpretation and reframing to identify and replace irrational or inaccurate thoughts. In line with this, positive interpretation has the potential to foster mental health by managing thoughts and regulating emotions, leading to adaptive behavior despite external circumstances. The most common irrational thoughts or cognitive errors are all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralizing, filtering out the positive, mind reading, catastrophizing, emotional reasoning, labeling, fortune-telling, and personalization. In the absence of positive interpretation, these can cause negative impacts such as worsening the mental health status of clients suffering from diverse types of psychosocial problems. Positive interpretation can create real value in the life of clients and help them identify and build skills that last much longer than a smile, support them to develop other life skills, increase their sense of possibilities, diminish routine stress, and help them to have the potential to boost the client’s confidence. Furthermore, positive interpretation could ignite clients to develop new skills and resources and can create a peaceful and balanced life principle across their body, achievement, social contact, and spirituality. Positive interpretation might be affected by a combination of personal, social, and environmental factors and takes some time to effectively bring about effective interpretation. Relapse or setbacks may occur across the five-stage consultation phase, so the therapist should check the presence of positive interpretation in each session. Finally, positive interpretation can serve as a guide to shape clients’ thought distortions or cognitive errors.