Alex Severn Integrated Therapist

A new frame on an old picture Clients that come to see me at my therapy practice often talk about their weaknesses. I might ask them “how did you come to identify this as a weakness?” After a few moments of looking at me with confusion, the answer is often that other people have told them this is a weakness. Do we really have to think of personality traits as “good or “bad”? When we look at traits that we consider weaknesses, if we stop for a moment and look at them closely, are they actually our strengths as well? I feel that many ‘weaknesses’ can be seen as strengths, just as many ‘strengths’ can be seen as a weakness ..It just depends on the situation or the perceiver (whether the perceiver is you or someone else). In the therapy business we call this ‘Reframing’. If somebody views ‘stubborn’ as a weakness. Are you not unshakable, resolute, and persistent? Can ‘clingy’ be viewed by one partner as claustrophobic and by another partner as loving, affectionate and caring? Can rebellious often be viewed as someone expressing a different viewpoint and being independent? Maybe outspoken is honest? In an interview, Al Pacino was asked ‘what are your weaknesses?’ He replied ‘My weaknesses... I wish I could come up with something. I'd probably have the same pause if you asked me what my strengths are. Maybe they're the same thing.’