Preface to the
2022 Guidelines
for the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities
Welcome to the twenty-second version of the Guidelines for the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. This edition was revised and approved by the 2022 World Conference, which was held via the Internet, August 9 to 14, 2022.
This document guides the work of the Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) Community. (See Guideline L. Use of the Guidelines.) We ask RC leaders to make it available to all Co-Counselors.
These Guidelines are the collected best thinking of thousands of people over the several decades of the development of the international Re-evaluation Counseling Community.
The Guidelines are useful in many ways and are most useful in the situations where we struggle to think clearly because of our undischarged distresses. They can be a valuable contradiction to those distresses. If when handling a situation in our Community, we find that we have any feelings about a particular Guideline, we can take those feelings to our sessions to discharge, and then reconsider that Guideline and the situation we are handling. We may need to find new solutions, but they must remain consistent with the intent of these Guidelines.
The Guidelines were first adopted at the first World Conference, in 1972. They have been updated at every World Conference since then. They are a significant and well-established part of our functioning.
Ten Pre-World Conferences were held via the Internet in the past year, in advance of the World Conference. At these Pre-World Conferences, RC leaders discharged on, discussed, and gave input to the Guidelines. This input was reviewed by the International Reference Person (IRP) and several committees of RC leaders, who then made recommendations to the World Conference based on the input. The entire delegation of the World Conference, more than 300 people, reviewed each recommendation. Their final decisions were then incorporated into these Guidelines for the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities.
To participate in the RC Community, Co-Counselors are expected to be guided by these Guidelines. Every RC leader is to know the Guidelines well and to follow them and support their use. Some Guidelines have the force of a requirement for being a member of the RC Community.* Any deviation from these Guidelines requires the agreement of the IRP. When any situation appears to need a variation from the Guidelines, the IRP should be informed of the variation.
Both reality and our understanding of it will continue to develop. These Guidelines cannot and do not need to cover every situation that may arise. Over the past decades, they have been repeatedly reworded, reorganized, and reformatted to make them easier to understand and easier to translate into other languages.
The 2022 World Conference confirmed Tim Jackins as International Reference Person and Teresa Enrico as Alternate International Reference Person of the Re-evaluation Counseling Community for the next four years.
—Tim Jackins
*The following Guidelines have the force of a requirement for being a member of the RC Community and require the agreement of the International Reference Person (IRP) for any deviation:
Guideline A.5. Confidentiality
Guideline B.3. Use of the Terms “Re-evaluation Counseling” and “RC”
Guideline H.3. Regional and Area Classes, Support Groups, and Playdays, and Area Gather-ins (and H.3.A. Online version)
Guideline H.4. Class and Area Workshops and Daylong Playdays (and H.4.A. Online version)
Guideline H.5. Regional and International Workshops and Gather-ins (and H.5.A. Online version)
Guideline H.7. Outreach Finances: Communities Outside the United States
Guideline J.2. Duplicating and Electronically Distributing RC Publications and Other Materials
Guideline J.4. Publications Royalties
Guideline J.7. Preserving Confidentiality when Writing about Others
Guideline K.1. Internet Safety
Guideline M.1. The No-Socializing Policy
Guideline O.2. Handling Attacks
Guideline D.1. Certification of RC Teachers and Guideline D.2. Requirements of RC Teachers have the force of a requirement to teach RC, and require the agreement of the International Reference Person (IRP) for any deviation.