Abstract
This article suggests that the power injunctions have to shape early decisions is directly related to the shame affect evoked during the injunction and attribution process. New developments in the theory of affects are reviewed, and a description is given of how the physiologic basis of shame affect leads to a reconsideration of redecision theory. The article then explores how redecision therapy can serve as an effective technique for mitigating shame affect, changing early decisions and correspondingly, arriving at a new and more acceptable sense of self.