Turn a Kind Eye-Offering Positive Reframing

Menzin E. R. (2024).

JAMA internal medicine.

Advance online publication.

https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2379

Here is an excerpt:

I have seen many patients struggle with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I firmly believe in my obligation to connect them with evidence-based therapy and offer pharmacologic treatment. The cognitive behavioral therapy technique of reframing, which is so useful for treating anxiety disorders, can serve as a useful lens for the disorder itself.1 I try to reframe by pointing out their ability to see patterns and the strengths intrinsic to this nonneurotypical brain. Perhaps with this mindset, they can look at their behaviors with grace.

Physicians are problem solvers by nature and training. When faced with symptoms, we tend to go directly for the cure. When there are no or only suboptimal solutions, we tend to offer sympathy instead of strategy. Rather than apologize, we can reframe build the scaffolding to allow patients to change their thought patterns. As with all strategies, this is not universally applicable. You cannot positively reframe a life-threatening diagnosis; to do so insults and minimizes the patient's distress. There are times to sit with patients as their house crumbles, and there are times to help them reframe the chaos.

Recently, I saw this done in another unlikely corner. I took my 89-year-old father to discuss a shoulder replacement with the orthopedist. "Hang on," the surgeon exclaimed enthusiastically, holding his capable hands in the air. "Before we talk about the surgical options, you tore your rotator cuff skiing Killington at 86? That's amazing!" With that phrase, he reframed my father's injury from the frailty of old age to a badge of athletic honor (though he never saw my dad ski). It does not change my father's difficult decision to live with the tear or a grueling repair. Yet as he uses his right hand to lift his left arm, perhaps he will think of the 50 years of skiing or the feeling of fresh snow beneath his skis. Instead of feeling angry, I now watch him maneuver that arm and recall the family ski trips, the children and grandchildren he taught to ski. Sometimes, we all need kind eyes.

The information is paywalled here.

Here are some thoughts: 

The article explores the concept of well-being as a complex interplay between internal mental states and external socio-cultural factors. It proposes a holistic view, emphasizing the importance of both internal and external influences on happiness.

The article likely discusses strategies for positive reframing, which involves shifting negative interpretations of situations or experiences towards a more positive perspective. This reframing could be applied to both internal thoughts and emotions, as well as external circumstances.

"Turning a kind eye" is a metaphor for adopting a positive and understanding perspective towards oneself and one's environment, ultimately contributing to greater well-being.

How to talk someone out of bigotry

Brian Resnick
vox.com
Originally published 29 Jan 20

Here is an excerpt:

Topping and dozens of other canvassers were a part of that 2016 effort. It was an important study: Not only has social science found very few strategies that work, in experiments, to change minds on issues of prejudice, but even fewer tests of those strategies have occurred in the real world.

Typically, the conversations begin with the canvasser asking the voter for their opinion on a topic, like abortion access, immigration, or LGBTQ rights. Canvassers (who may or may not be members of the impacted community) listen nonjudgmentally. They don’t say if they are pleased or hurt by the response. They are supposed “to appear genuinely interested in hearing the subject ruminate on the question,” as Broockman and Kalla’s latest study instructions read.

The canvassers then ask if the voters know anyone in the affected community, and ask if they relate to the person’s story. If they don’t, and even if they do, they’re asked a question like, “When was a time someone showed you compassion when you really needed it?” to get them to reflect on their experience when they might have felt something similar to the people in the marginalized community.

The canvassers also share their own stories: about being an immigrant, about being a member of the LGBTQ community, or about just knowing people who are.

It’s a type of conversation that’s closer to what a psychotherapist might have with a patient than a typical political argument. (One clinical therapist I showed it to said it sounded a bit like “motivational interviewing,” a technique used to help clients work through ambivalent feelings.) It’s not about listing facts or calling people out on their prejudicial views. It’s about sharing and listening, all the while nudging people to be analytical and think about their shared humanity with marginalized groups.

The info is here.