Name Claim & Reframe: Your Path to a Well-Lived Life by Andrea DeWitt focuses on how we, especially women, can work toward becoming what DeWitt calls the Gentle Warrior. This book is geared toward women; however, many of the exercises and much of the information could be used by men.

What I Liked About Name Claim & Reframe

For me, Name Claim & Reframe is about taking the adverse situations we all face in life and finding the positive in them. Accepting the truth about ourselves isn’t always easy, but when we focus on becoming more self-aware, we can learn how to take those things that trigger us and reframe them, so we are able to “reconcile” with ourselves.

As you might expect, DeWitt goes into specifics about each step. First, we must know our core wounds and recognize they contribute to false identities. We can’t choose who we will become unless we recognize the roadblocks in our journey. The Second step is to claim new behavior and energy to enter a “cleaner relationship with ourselves and others.” Finally, we learn to practice daily the art of reframing. DeWitt says, “The further we distance ourselves from the exactness of our expectations, the more exhilarating our life will become.”

Perhaps the most significant thing for me was DeWitt’s explanation of feedback. It’s so easy to take feedback personally and to question ourselves after receiving negative input. DeWitt says, “Any form of feedback only gives us information about the individual providing the feedback, i.e., what they value. Another person’s opinion doesn’t tell you anything essential about you.” For me, if I can focus on that one idea, my life can be much less stressful.

What You’ll Like About Name Claim & Reframe

If you are interested in taking a good hard look at yourself, then this book gives you plenty of opportunities to do so. There are many exercises you can do to help clarify how you respond to situations, how to claim and tame your inner critic, and how to reframe.

DeWitt uses many examples to help readers see how the information can be used in real life. I enjoy stories that emphasis key points, so this is one of the strong points in the book.

Final Thoughts

Name Claim & Reframe has a lot of good information. Some of it may feel a little too touchy feely, but anytime you start examining yourself that may be the case. The examples are good and the information on feedback helped me. There are a few off-color words that I didn’t feel were necessary but that’s something I notice, and it may not bother anyone else. I received a copy of the book for review.

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