Frame

The frame in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis refers to the environment and the relationship which enables the patient to be open about their life with the therapist, and in a secure and confidential manner make a change. It is one of the most important elements in psychotherapy and counseling. While the psychoanalyst Robert Langs did not coin the term, he did make it famous. The "frame" is an image meant to express the setting of boundaries or ground rules for the contractual aspects of therapy. Significance Success in psychotherapy and counselling has been associated with the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist. It reflects the genuineness in the relationship between the two. Robert Langs writes, "The therapist management of the ground rules of psychotherapy constitute his or her most fundamental arena of intervention, and the therapists efforts in this regard will greatly influence all of the other dimensions of the therapeutic interaction and experience".