Redecision Therapy: Underappreciated Developmental, Relational, and Neuroconstructive Processes

This article invites readers to consider the following questions: Why did Robert and Mary Goulding insist that redecisions be made in a Free Child ego state? What are the developmental prerequisites for redeciding an earlier decision? Does the redecision process apply only to verbalizable decisions subserved by explicit memory, or may there be other types subserved by implicit or procedural memory? How does a redecision make a difference both in people's verbalizable life narratives and in their actual lives? What are the characteristics of a healthy life narrative, and how can these be understood in terms of mind and brain functioning? Why is the final stage of the redecision process-which involves the processes of reevaluation, decision refinement, and maintenance planning-so important and so often neglected?