Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Reframing Technique in Psychodynamic Social Work Practice

This multiple case study responds to the need for process and effectiveness studies in mental health social work practice through providing an in-depth analysis of the operationalisation of the reframing technique from a psychodynamic perspective. The practitioner–researcher studies (1) the way reframing (theory) is applied in the work with the parents of six latency aged children suffering from child separation anxiety disorder (practice) and (2) the effects of the technique on the parents and their relationship with the child. Reframing provided relational meaning and accordingly modified the parental ambivalence to bring the child for assessment, the parental inability to set boundaries on child aggressive behaviours, the parental child overprotection behaviours, the separation anxiety symptoms of the child, the parental phobic anxiety, the emotionally painful parental psychosocial histories, and the parental couple relationship problems. The study establishes that the concept of reframing is worth further exploration in mental health social work practice.