Goulding’s Redecision Therapy: how does it work and what methods does it use?

This is how Goulding's Redecision Therapy works in psychology.

Goulding's Redecision Therapy is one of the main schools (or currents) of Transactional Analysis.. It is an application of Transactional Analysis, and is based mainly on the individual's decisions to achieve therapeutic change.

In this article we tell you how this therapy was born, who are its authors, what are its fundamental characteristics and how it works.

Goulding's redecision therapy

Goulding's Redecision Therapy (1979) it was created by Robert (Bob) L. Goulding MD and Mary McClure Gouldingtwo renowned American psychotherapists. When it was created, between the 1960s and 1970s, these psychotherapists worked at the Western Institute for Group and Family Therapy in Watsonville (California, USA) as co-directors of the center.

This therapy integrates techniques from Gestalt Therapy and Transactional Analysis. Technically, it is an application of Transactional Analysis (a system of psychotherapy of humanistic philosophy), and also includes techniques of Existential Psychotherapy and Behavior Modification.

It is ideal for use in group therapy. However, it can also adopt other formats or modalities, such as brief therapy, or be part of a more profound and long-term therapy.

Thus, Goulding's Redecision Therapy is based on two basic pillars (assumptions or ideals): that the power to change lies within oneself, and that a sense of humor is fundamental to any therapeutic change process..

This therapy focuses on becoming aware of certain explicit decisions made, especially those made in childhood, in order to become aware and understand how these decisions have affected one's own life years later.

Transactional Analysis: basics

Before explaining in more detail what Goulding's Redecision Therapy consists of, let us look at the three central principles of Transactional Analysis (TA), since this therapy is an application of it. In a very synthesized form, Transactional Analysis is based on three fundamental principles:

We are all born "good", but depending on our relationships we can change.
We all have a human potential to discover and exploit.
We can all change to become more autonomous, and we have the resources to achieve it.

Characteristics of this type of therapy

Now that we know the basic premises of Transactional Analysis, let's talk about Goulding's Redecision Therapy. In relation to its characteristics, Goulding's Redecision Therapy focuses on the vision of the life script that people adopt, influenced by external factors (external factors).influenced by external factors (from the environment), especially the family environment.

One of the main objectives of Goulding's Redecision Therapy is that the patient can make decisions to change his or her life. As in all psychotherapy, the therapist guides the patient on this "path of changes and decisions".

The authors of this therapy emphasize the importance of the decisions we make when we are children.These decisions respond to the different orders and "commands" we receive from fathers, mothers and other important people, and can be verbal or non-verbal responses (i.e., behaviors, actions, feelings, words, etc.).

Through these decisions (which are actually adaptive responses), we survive our environment in a subjective way, always according to the Gouldings, and we do so with the resources we have, which in those stages of life are rather limited and scarce. Resources can be of different types: affective, behavioral and cognitive..

These decisions (which the authors of Goulding's Redecision Therapy call "early decision") influence and mark, to a great extent, our future life, and define how we relate to others. In the redecision therapy all this is worked on.

Functioning

In terms of how it works, Goulding's Redecision Therapy starts with the question, "What do you want to change now?". That is to say, this therapy is based on change and decision making, on the part of the patient, so that he/she can turn his/her life into what he/she really wants.

In the first session, the problem situation is defined; the therapist listens and looks for certain connections between themesThe therapist listens and looks for connections between themes, trying to answer the following two questions:

"What is the main complaint?"

As Goulding's redecision therapy progresses, the therapist sets out to answer the following questions about the patient, addressing the issues as he or she sees fit (through different psychological techniques).

Some of these questions are, "What are your feelings?", "What behaviors do you dislike about yourself?", "Do you obsess instead of thinking?", "Are you depressed?", "Are you angry, or bored, or phobic most of the time?", "Are you unhappy in your marriage?", "Are you unhappy in your job?", etc.

It is clear that if the patient has come to therapy it is because something wants to change, something that makes him/her unhappyeither about himself or about his situation. For this, the therapist should find out one of the most important questions in Goulding's Redecision Therapy, in order to agree the therapy contract together with the patient; this question is: "What is it that he wants to change?". Thus, we already have a specific goal (desire), and we can start working on it.

Methodology and role of the therapist

According to the authors themselves (in their book: Changing Lives Through Redecision Therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1979), the methodology used in redecision therapy is simple, clear and concise. The therapist's role is to listen "carefully" (active listening), observe "carefully" and confront "carefully".

The method used by the therapist within Goulding's Redecision Therapy is based on not blaming the patient for failuresThe method used by the therapist in Goulding's Redecision Therapy is based on not blaming the patient for his failures, but looking within him for the answers he needs to move forward. These answers will also help the patient to create an environment that facilitates therapeutic change.

On the other hand, redecision therapy is based on an approach based on the "here and now" (i.e., in the present moment). (How is it possible to work in the present moment with this therapy?

We see this through a series of actions to be performed by the therapist, which will allow the patient to connect his memories with his affects, and to address his internal struggles and tensions in a more direct way (the objective is that the patient places himself in the scene of what he is explaining, and not so much that he simply talks about it).

Therapist's actions

We have summarized a series of actions to be performed by the therapist in order for the therapy to be successful, always based on the Gouldings' original ideas for developing their therapy. These actions respond to a series of previous situations, such as...

The therapist The therapist should ask the patient to focus on the present moment when explaining what he or shee when explaining what he/she wishes to communicate.

In the case that the patient tells information about his past, the therapist will ask him to imagine that he is in that scene at that precise moment, and to try to explain it as if he were living it right now. try to explain it as if he/she were living it right now..

In these cases, the therapist will ask the patient to imagine that the person (or persons) is (are) in the office right now; thus, he/she should imagine that he/she is talking to that person (or persons) right now, he/she should imagine that he/she is talking to him/her at this very moment..

Applications

What can Goulding Redecision Therapy be used for? In terms of applications, it can be used to treat a Wide range of psychological and emotional problems, among them: depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, bereavement, sequelae of physical abuse, physical and mental health problems.The after-effects of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, problems in social and/or emotional relationships, etc.

However, the therapist who works through this therapy must have been duly trained in it, with experienced professionals and demonstrable consolidated training.

"What was this patient doing to himself when he decided to seek assistance?"

(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)