The Role of Self-Injury in Behavioral Flexibility and Resilience

Pincus, David; Eberle, Kiersten; Walder, Christin S.; Kemp, Aaron S.; Lenjav, Mohammed; Sandman, Curt A.

doi:10.1037/e634192013-034

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Another way to measure critical fluctuation is to calculate dynamic complexity [ 100 ], which considers the strength, number, and distribution of fluctuations in time-series data [ 31 ]. Critical fluctuations (higher dynamic complexity) in daily self-ratings of psychotherapy process variables have been shown to precede and predict symptom reduction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder [ 54 , 101 ] and mood disorders [ 102 , 103 ]. A program for calculating dynamic complexity is available in R statistical package [ 100 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A complex systems approach to the study of change in psychotherapy

Hayes

Andrews

2020

BMC Med

100

102

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Background: A growing body of research highlights the limitations of traditional methods for studying the process of change in psychotherapy. The science of complex systems offers a useful paradigm for studying patterns of psychopathology and the development of more functional patterns in psychotherapy. Some basic principles of change are presented from subdisciplines of complexity science that are particularly relevant to psychotherapy: dynamical systems theory, synergetics, and network theory. Two early warning signs of system transition that have been identified across sciences (critical fluctuations and critical slowing) are also described. The network destabilization and transition (NDT) model of therapeutic change is presented as a conceptual framework to import these principles to psychotherapy research and to suggest future research directions. Discussion: A complex systems approach has a number of implications for psychotherapy research. We describe important design considerations, targets for research, and analytic tools that can be used to conduct this type of research. Conclusions: A complex systems approach to psychotherapy research is both viable and necessary to more fully capture the dynamics of human change processes. Research to date suggests that the process of change in psychotherapy can be nonlinear and that periods of increased variability and critical slowing might be early warning signals of transition in psychotherapy, as they are in other systems in nature. Psychotherapy research has been limited by small samples and infrequent assessment, but ambulatory and electronic methods now allow researchers to more fully realize the potential of concepts and methods from complexity science.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A complex systems approach to the study of change in psychotherapy

Hayes

Andrews

2020

BMC Med

100

102

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“…Each of these studies on the dynamics of self-esteem provide some initial support for a more technically specific, but also classically humanistic, theory that defines the self-system as a well-integrated yet dynamically metaflexible fractal structure, with resilience defined by the combination of structural integrity and flexibility. This fractal "meta-flexibility" definition of resilience was tested in the context of shifts to behavioral flexibility associated with severe and persistent self-injurious behaviors (SIB; Pincus et al, 2014). Using a sample of 32 intellectually disabled individuals in long-term hospital placements for SIB, Pincus et al showed (a) that the flow of discrete behaviors over time is fractal; (b) that behavioral flows containing SIB are more flexible while also being more coherent than those without SIB on average; (c) by contrast that higher levels of SIB (i.e., perseverative SIB) are associated with lower flexibility and structural integrity; and (d) that short bouts of SIB appear to serve a resilience-making function for this population, providing a means to either increase or decrease their levels of behavioral flexibility depending on pre-SIB baselines.…”

Section: Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, Pincus et al (2014) tested the notion that SIB serves a transient function for meta-flexibility, serving as a transition behavior that rapidly shifts levels of behavioral flexibility. To test this hypothesis, they identified a subsample of 26 time series (from 130 total SIB series) containing a discrete bout of SIB around the middle of the series (i.e., with at least 10 behaviors pre-and post-SIB and fewer than 50 total SIB events).…”

Section: Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear Dynamical Systems and Humanistic Psychology

Pincus

Kiefer

Beyer

2017

Journal of Humanistic Psychology

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The recent debunking by Brown, Sokal, & Friedman (2013) of some high profile results applying chaos theory to positive psychology (i.e., Fredrickson & Losada, 2005) creates the opportunity to shed light on the quality work that has been done by others in this area. Too many humanists may be unaware of the large volume of legitimate work that exists in the literature apart from Fredrickson & Losada's (2005) paper. Often,, such legitimate lines of research are ignored, not measuring topological processes). Next, it will highlight some ongoing work applying nonlinear science to humanistic psychology. In preparing for this review, we found numerous areas of overlap that we could potentially cover, including: creativity and meaning (cf.

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“…At higher values of | b |, small events are expected to be much more frequent than those of larger size, which may begin to approach a chaotic state (Pincus & Guastello, 2005). In other words, as the system increases in complexity and flexibility, not only does its entropy level increase but also it may present self‐similar patterns, or correspond to a fractal process (Pincus et al., 2014). In fractal processes, the structural characteristics of the whole system can be observed at the level of its constituent elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐organisation in dialogical patterns of a patient with borderline personality disorder and their therapist: A case study from nonlinear dynamics perspective

Mellado

Guastello

Martínez

et al. 2022

Couns and Psychother Res

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Objective The purpose of this study was to identify self‐organised dynamics in sessions with dialogical patterns (i.e. reflective interactions of self‐states associated with psychological change) within long‐term psychotherapy. One of the hallmarks of self‐organisation is the presence of an Inverse Power Law (IPL) in the frequency distribution of relevant events, which reflect better adaptation to internal and environmental changes, produced by psychotherapy. Methods A case study of successful psychotherapy (44 weekly sessions) with a patient diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the therapist was conducted. The expressions of the subjectivity (i.e. voices) in the patient and therapist were identified through the Model of Analysis of Discursive Positioning in Psychotherapy (MAPP). State Space Grids (SSG) identified sessions that presented dialogical patterns acting as attractors (8 sessions) and those with non‐dialogical patterns acting as attractors (12 sessions). Finally, Orbital Decomposition (ORBDE) produced statistics of self‐organisation in both groups of sessions and the degree of fit to an IPL. Results Both groups of sessions presented an acceptable fit to the IPL distributions (R2 = .853 and .938), and statistics placed them in different self‐organised regions. Conclusions Although dialogical patterns are an emergent property of therapy, their structure is similar to sessions of other types, in that dynamic processes occur in them that can be empowered in patients to consolidate psychological change. The nonlinear and emergent character of these self‐organised processes and their clinical implications for activating the patients' psychological resources are discussed.

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The Role of Self-Injury in Behavioral Flexibility and Resilience

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

A complex systems approach to the study of change in psychotherapy

A complex systems approach to the study of change in psychotherapy

Nonlinear Dynamical Systems and Humanistic Psychology

Self‐organisation in dialogical patterns of a patient with borderline personality disorder and their therapist: A case study from nonlinear dynamics perspective

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