What it involves
Dereflection (Ger. Dereflexion) is a technique in which the patient's attention is turned away from themselves - from symptoms, excessive self-observation and the pursuit of their own experiences - and directed towards tasks, values and people.
Basis
It rests on self-transcendence: a person becomes themselves by forgetting themselves. If paradoxical intention teaches one to laugh at a symptom, dereflection teaches one to ignore it - because attention is taken up by something more important.
Examples
- In sleep disorders: instead of thinking about falling asleep, occupy the mind with something that matters to me.
- In sexual disorders: moving away from monitoring one's own performance towards the other person and closeness.
- In chronic pain or illness: finding a task or a person to devote oneself to.
The dereflection zone
A practical variant for insomnia: the patient agrees with the therapist that if, after a dozen or so minutes in bed, tension and hyper-reflection appear (“am I asleep or not?”), they get up and go to a pre-arranged “dereflection zone” - a place where they do something valuable to them. Success is measured not by the hours slept but by whether the shift of attention towards what matters succeeded. The task is introduced gradually, letting the patient refine it themselves.
Not avoidance but turning towards
Dereflection does not consist in suppressing the problem but in turning towards meaning - ignoring the symptom in order to direct attention to something worthwhile.
Sources
V. E. Frankl, Theory and Therapy of Neuroses; The Will to Meaning; Wikipedia: Logotherapy.