Embodied Decision Making: Self-Reflexivity in Professional Development Practice

This article introduces innovative methods of skill-building and fostering sustainable practice in professional development and workplace wellbeing, presented here through the embodied decision making model. The model helps identify body-based stressors, assess environmental factors and clarify needs and priorities in order to map potential courses of action/non-action through an examination of embodied processes. It illustrates a non-linear, dynamic process with theoretical basis on movement analysis systems and developmental frameworks. Gaps in current decision-making research on individual differences are identified, sustaining that body-based factors remain absent and require further examination. An original contribution of this article is to explore the connection between decision-making and embodied self-reflexivity in professional practice. Data gathered from professional development workshops are applied thematically to illustrate the potential for practice-based embodied frameworks. The term 'variables of insight' is introduced as an exploration of micro-and macro-processes in the stages embodied decision making as an innovative vector of analysis that substantiates the relevance of movement and symbolic content in reflexive practice. The article concludes that dynamic models, which account for individual differences and maintain an integrated view of body-mind, can challenge the notion of decision-making as a standardised and cognitive-focused process, while maintaining an inclusive and diverse client-centred stance.