Psychostasis Research Institute Theories
The Psychostasis Research Institute develops and evaluates theoretical models concerned with how psychological systems maintain, lose, and regain functional stability in real-world contexts. This section brings together the core theories produced within the Institute, including foundational frameworks, explanatory mechanisms, applied models, and formal comparisons.
Core Framework
The Psychostasis Regulation Model (PRM) serves as the Institute’s core theoretical framework and is articulated in both academic and clinical forms. These represent the same underlying model, expressed through different lenses to support formal theory development on the one hand and applied understanding on the other.
Academic Formulation
The academic formulation of PRM provides a formal, explanatory account of psychological regulation, specifying the core constructs, processes, and assumptions used to describe and explain stability, disruption, and change across contexts.
Clinical Formulation
The clinical formulation of PRM provides a practical, case-formulation–oriented account of psychological regulation, organising assessment and intervention around the factors that maintain, disrupt, and restore stability in real-world contexts.
Psychological Phenomena
Psychological phenomena describe the observable patterns of affect, cognition, behaviour, and experience that emerge as outputs of underlying regulatory processes across contexts.
Affect functions as a signalling system that reflects predicted or experienced disruptions in psychological stability, with different affective experiences indicating variation in regulatory dimension, attribution, intensity, and overall psychostatic impact.
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Stress
- Depression
- Hopelessness
- Helplessness
- Anger
- Frustration
- Irritability
- Shame
- Guilt
- Pride
- Sadness/grief
- Loneliness
- Emotional numbness
- Emotional overwhelm
- Emotional volatility
- Joy
- Relief
- Contentment
- Flow
Behaviour functions as a regulatory output through which the system attempts to restore or preserve psychological stability over time, with different behaviours reflecting variation in regulatory dimension, goal identification, strategy selection, environmental constraint, and overall psychostatic impact.
- Avoidance
- Procrastination
- Compulsions
- Safety behaviours
- Withdrawal
- Shutdown/freeze
- Aggression
- Control behaviours
- Perfectionism
- Overachievement
- Workaholism
- People-pleasing
- Reassurance seeking
- Substance use
- Self-harm
- Disordered eating behaviours
- Risk-taking
- Rule-following / rigidity
- Impulsivity
- Inaction/passivity
Cognition serves a dual regulatory role, enabling the identification and evaluation of alternative goals and strategies, while also functioning as a strategy itself through appraisal, interpretation, and recontextualisation aimed at maintaining psychological stability.
- Beliefs
- Core beliefs
- Schemas
- Cognitive distortions
- Rumination
- Worry
- Catastrophising
- Overthinking
- Mental rigidity
- Cognitive flexibility
- Reappraisal
- Meaning-making
- Self-narratives / identity stories
- Optimism / pessimism
- Hope
- Future projection
- Predictive confidence
- Uncertainty intolerance
- Mental avoidance
- Intellectualisation
Identity functions as a compressed regulatory model that integrates past experience, anticipated futures, and valued goals to guide behaviour and strategy selection in the pursuit of psychological stability.
- Self-esteem
- Self-concept
- Identity stability
- Identity diffusion
- Role identification
- Shame-based identity
- Trauma-based identity
- Success-contingent identity
- Authenticity
- Impostor syndrome
- Narcissistic traits (as strategy clusters)
- Self-efficacy
- Agency
- Locus of control
Motivation functions as a dynamic regulatory process that prioritises goals and allocates effort based on anticipated impacts on psychological stability across time.
- Motivation
- Amotivation
- Demotivation
- Loss of drive
- Goal disengagement
- Goal persistence
- Goal conflict
- Motivational switching
- Burnout
- Engagement
- Boredom
- Apathy
- Desire
- Ambivalence
- Meaninglessness
Neurodivergence describes stable differences in regulatory configuration that shape how psychological systems process demand, allocate resources, and maintain stability across contexts.
- ADHD
- Autism
- Executive dysfunction
- Sensory sensitivity
- Demand avoidance
- Hyperfocus
- Emotional regulation differences
- Fatigue and burnout in neurodivergent populations
- Masking costs
Somatic phenomena describe bodily states and physiological processes that function as resource constraints or supports within the psychological regulatory system.
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Low energy states
- Chronic stress responses
- Sleep disturbance
- Appetite changes
- Pain amplification
- Gut–brain effects
- Somatic anxiety
- Psychosomatic symptoms
- Arousal dysregulation
Social and interpersonal processes describe how relationships, group dynamics, and social structures function as external regulatory systems that shape demand, support, opportunity, and psychological stability.
- Attachment patterns
- Social anxiety
- Rejection sensitivity
- Belonging
- Social comparison
- Validation seeking
- Co-regulation
- Dependency
- Isolation
- Loneliness
- Trust
- Power dynamics
- Dominance/submission
- Conflict avoidance
- People management behaviours
- Masking
Therapeutic change describes the process through which regulatory capacity, strategy viability, and environmental support are reorganised to restore and stabilise psychological functioning over time.
- Insight
- Resistance (reframed)
- Therapeutic alliance
- Motivation for change
- Readiness
- Ambivalence in therapy
- Plateau states
- Relapse
- Behavioural compliance vs internal regulation
- Symptom substitution
- Skill generalisation failure
- Sustainable change
Trauma describes a state in which regulatory predictions collapse around persistent threat, leading to enduring disruptions in capacity, strategy viability, and perceived future stability.
- Psychological trauma
- PTSD
- Complex trauma
- Hypervigilance
- Dissociation
- Emotional numbing
- Startle responses
- Trauma triggers
- Flashbacks
- Avoidance patterns
- Threat generalisation
- Freeze responses
- Learned threat models
Regulatory Mechanisms
Regulatory mechanisms describe the underlying processes through which psychological systems monitor conditions, generate predictions, select strategies, and adjust regulation over time.
Theory Comparisons
Theory comparisons examine how PRI-developed models align with, extend, or diverge from existing psychological theories, clarifying points of convergence, distinction, and scope.
Foundational Organising Theories examines theories that propose first-principle explanations for how psychological systems maintain viability, regulate internal state, and respond to environmental demand.
- Homeostasis (Cannon)
- Allostasis (Sterling & Eyer)
- Control Theory (Powers’ Perceptual Control Theory)
- Active Inference (Friston)
- Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan)
Motivation and goal selection theories explain how goals are prioritised, effort is allocated, and action is initiated or sustained over time.
- Expectancy–Value Theory
- Goal-Setting Theory (Locke & Latham)
- Temporal Motivation Theory (Steel & König)
- Reinforcement Learning Theory
- Incentive Salience Theory
Emotion and affect theories analyse competing accounts of the origin, function, and structure of emotional experience within psychological systems.
- James–Lange Theory
- Cannon–Bard Theory
- Schachter–Singer Two-Factor Theory
- Cognitive Appraisal Theory (Lazarus)
- Theory of Constructed Emotion (Barrett)
Cognition and interpretation theories examine how beliefs, meaning, reasoning, and interpretation are formed and used to guide perception and action.
- Schema Theory
- Dual-Process Theory
- Prospect Theory
- Rational Choice Theory
- Bayesian Brain Hypothesis
Behaviour and learning theories compare explanations of how behaviour is acquired, selected, and maintained through experience and interaction with the environment.
- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- Habit Loop Theory (Cue–Routine–Reward)
- Skill Acquisition Theory (Fitts & Posner)
- Behavioural Activation Theory
Identity and personality theories explore accounts of psychological continuity and stability over time, including how self-models, traits, and identities are formed and sustained.
- Trait Theory (Big Five)
- Narrative Identity Theory (McAdams)
- Self-Concept Theory
- Ego Identity Theory (Erikson)
- Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner)
Psychopathology and diagnosis theories analyse how psychological distress and dysfunction are conceptualised, classified, and explained.
- Medical Model of Mental Illness
- Categorical Diagnosis Model (DSM framework)
- Dimensional Model of Psychopathology
- Symptom Network Theory
- Transdiagnostic Model of Psychopathology
Trauma and threat theories examine how threat is learned, generalised, and maintained, and why regulatory disruption can persist beyond the original context.
- Fear Conditioning Theory
- Dual Representation Theory of PTSD
- Stress Sensitisation Theory
- Polyvagal Theory
- Learned Helplessness Theory
Therapeutic change theories compare proposed mechanisms through which psychological regulation reorganises and stabilises over time.
- Cognitive Theory of Change (Beck)
- Exposure Theory (Inhibitory Learning Model)
- Common Factors Theory
- Psychodynamic Theory of Change
- Experiential Emotional Processing Theory
Neurodivergence and individual difference theories explore explanations for stable variation in psychological functioning and regulatory organisation across individuals.
- Executive Dysfunction Theory (ADHD)
- Delay Aversion Theory
- Weak Central Coherence Theory
- Enhanced Perceptual Functioning Theory
- Sensory Processing Theory