Private Round Table: Elasticity, Plasticity, Rigidity & Phase Transitions

I am currently working on a new research project on resilience in a system perspective. This is based on the assumption that the inner interconnections of a system components can result in the system flexibility, change or rupture in response to variations or disruptions in its habitat. We are planning to analyse data from several human interactions and see results. This plan would produce publications and a public event to be defined.

Refreshing return of haikus in the West

from Ezra Pound

In a station of the metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd

Petals on a wet, black bough

to Mark Harris

Deep snow

in a dream I find

her password in

The private round table has been successful!

We agreed to set up a project on Open Science Framework called The Resilience Sandbox. We will use this virtual sandbox to share data (the sand) and toys (data analysis techniques). All about systems’ flexibility, plasticity and rigidity. And, about how systems can react to challenges, rebound, learn or be destroyed. How correlation and variance of subsystems and variables affect resiliency.

Chimera States as Many Selves

Considering chimaera states in humans, and their interactions, brings naturally to consider that they represent selves, sub-personalities. Our verbal self is not exactly our non-verbal self, and they are not exactly our body expressing emotions and performing basic vital functions. This is the natural evolution of science based embodied mind evidence in research and amplified by our metaphors and theoretical framework. Let’s follow the intuition of two enlightened women and writers. Our identity, subjectivity, is based on the interplay of multiple selves and the way they can manage to reach harmony and intentionality.

“I have always been tormented by the image of multiplicity of selves. Some days I call it richness, and other days I see it as a disease, a proliferation as dangerous as cancer. My first concept about people around me was that all of them were coordinated into a whole, whereas I was made of multitude of selves, of fragments.”

― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin

“Feeling of discontinuity as a person. My various selves—how do they all come together? And anxiety at moments of transition from one “role” to another. Will I make it fifteen minutes from now? Be able to step into, inhabit the person I’m supposed to be? This is felt as an infinitely hazardous leap, no matter how often it’s successfully executed.”

― Susan Sontag, As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh

Dionysus Riding a Leopard, Mosaic, House of Masks in Delos, Greece, c. 180 AD

Some more pictures from a Many Selves Project in high schools!

Introducing IDEAS – A New Approach to Complex Emotional
Needs
Breaking Down Barriers in Youth Mental Health
Imagine a young person struggling with overwhelming emotions, impulsive behaviors, and relationship
difficulties. Traditionally, they might face a stark choice: join lengthy waiting lists for intensive therapy
programs, or receive minimal support that doesn’t match their needs. The IDEAS project (Interventive
Dynamic Emotion-focused Assessment and Skills-training) is changing this landscape by offering a third
option – a precision-guided, brief intervention that meets young people exactly where they are.
What Makes IDEAS Different?
IDEAS isn’t just another therapy program – it’s a fundamentally different approach to mental health
care that recognizes the complexity and individuality of each young person’s emotional needs. Here’s
what sets it apart:
Co-Production at Its Core: IDEAS was developed hand-in-hand with experts-by-experience and People
Participation Leads. This isn’t therapy designed for young people – it’s therapy designed with them.
Formulation-Driven, Not Protocol-Driven: Instead of following a rigid manual, IDEAS uses the
innovative CCC (Comprehend, Cope, and Connect) formulation to identify each person’s unique skills
deficits and build a personalized intervention path.
Evidence-Based Foundation: Drawing from the best of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and
Mentalisation-Based Therapy (MBT), IDEAS distills these powerful approaches into an 8-week format
that’s both effective and accessible.
The Promise of Personalized Care
What’s truly exciting about IDEAS is its recognition that “one size fits all” doesn’t work in mental
health. By using Dynamic Emotion-focused Assessment, the intervention adapts to each young person’s
specific pattern of emotional dysregulation, whether that’s hypervigilance, emotional numbness,
impulsivity, or relationship difficulties.
Real-World Impact
The pilot results speak for themselves:

• Large effect sizes across all primary outcome measures (Cohen’s d ranging from 0.65 to 1.15)
• Sustained improvements maintained at 3-month follow-up
• 68.65% of participants are ready for discharge rather than stepping up to intensive services
• Cost-effective delivery – no specialized DBT training required for clinicians
  What’s Next?
  As we move toward integrating AI coaching and multimodal assessment into IDEAS, we’re not just
  improving a therapy program – we’re reimagining how mental health services can be both deeply
  personalized and widely accessible.
  Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll dive deep into the CCC formulation approach and how it
  guides personalized intervention selection.