ABSTRACT
Frame of reference has been defined within transactional analysis as an adaptive picture of the world. It has generally been subordinated to the concept of script for the purpose of explaining problematic belief patterns. This chapter suggests ways in which frames of reference can become problematic which are entirely distinct from script whilst simultaneously arguing against a unified explanation for how frames of reference come about, what they do and how they can let us down. Suggesting that deficits in knowledge can contribute to the cause and maintenance of certain kinds of distress, the chapter goes on to argue that we need to account for different kinds and degrees of knowing in our appraisal of why people come to think one thing and not something else. It concludes by proposing that we understand collective frames of reference as premised upon a socially produced vocabulary for living which circumscribes some aspects of our individual frame of reference and partially guides the creation of our script.
