Unbalancing Psychoanalytic Theory: Moving Beyond the Equilibrium Model of Freud’s Thought

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a new model for understanding human psychophysiological self-regulation and biofeedback in nonlinear dynamical terms. The language and concepts of chaos theory could prove useful in developing a more comprehensive model of human psychophysiological self-regulation. Models of the human psyche have been developed utilizing Jungian concepts combined with the language and concepts of chaos theory. Elmer Green's background was in guided missile systems in the 1950s. It was a natural step for him to use the cybernetic model to develop a theory of human psychophysiological self-regulation. Central to his model was what he termed dynamic equilibrium or homeostasis. The use of the word dynamic hints at transformative dimensions of humans as open systems, but it is undercut by homeostatic notion of a return to a steady state. Schwartz also applied general systems theory to the process of psychophysiological self-regulation and health maintenance. Schwartz developed a model based on a systems disregulation to explain feedback and psychophysiological self-regulation.