Non-Linear Change: Why Retreat and Reconsideration Are Not Failures, but Mechanisms of Personal Evolution
Objectives: This article aims to deconstruct the myth of linear psychological progress and to offer an alternative conceptual framework that legitimises retreat and reconsideration as integral, functional components of personal evolution. The purpose is to overcome the pathologising perspective on psychological oscillations and to scientifically establish a model of change as a complex, self-regulated, and non-linear process.
Method: The study employs an integrative theoretical-analytical methodology, based on a critical synthesis of literature from dynamic psychology, complex systems theories, developmental psychology, and processual psychotherapy. The approach is qualitative and phenomenological, illustrated by clinical and everyday life examples, aiming to construct a coherent conceptual model.