Biological Foundations of the Process-Contact Theory of the Psyche

The paper lays out the biological foundations for the Process-Contact Theory of the Psyche (PCTP), aiming not to reduce psychic processes to neurobiology but to identify where the theory's ontological premises are realized in physiological and molecular mechanisms. The argument draws on autopoiesis and enactivism, modern reflex theory, and dissipative structures theory, with additional support from affect processing, somatic markers, the SEEKING system, polyvagal framework, epigenetics of co-regulation, and neuroplasticity. Core PCTP constructs—existential stake, internal object, retroflection, and the five-phase cycle of mental metabolism—are shown to have biological anchoring at reproducible or theoretically consistent levels, while thermodynamic metaphors remain illustrative. Clinical implications address limits of insight-oriented interventions due to extinction learning and the role of somatic and environmental components in therapy.

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Abstract

Abstract This paper outlines the biological foundations of the Process-Contact Theory of the Psyche (PCTP). Its task is not to reduce psychic processes to neurobiological mechanisms but to establish in which physiological and molecular mechanisms the theory's ontological premises are realized, and with what degree of rigor such relations can be asserted. The argument is organized around three sources: the theory of autopoiesis and enactivism (Maturana, Varela, Thompson); Sechenov's reflex theory in its modern developments (Pavlov, LeDoux, Bouton); and Prigogine's theory of dissipative structures. Further supports include dual-pathway affect processing, somatic markers, the SEEKING system, the polyvagal framework, the epigenetics of co-regulation, and neuroplasticity. Every claim is explicitly marked at one of three levels: (✓) a reproducibly established mechanism; (◇) a theoretical interpretation consistent with empirical data but not directly proven; (⚠) an illustrative analogy not claiming to describe a mechanism. Core PCTP constructs — existential stake, internal object, retroflection, and the five-phase cycle of mental metabolism — are shown to admit biological anchoring at levels ✓ or ◇, whereas thermodynamic and energetic metaphors are kept at level ⚠. Clinical implications are discussed, in particular the limits of insight-oriented interventions in light of extinction learning, and the role of somatic and environmental components of therapeutic process. Keywords: process-contact theory of the psyche; autopoiesis; retroflection; mental metabolism; extinction learning; dissipative structures; neuroplasticity; co-regulation; epigenetics; methodology.