Psychotherapy involves the modification of a client’s worldview to reduce distress and enhance well-being. We take a human dynamical systems approach to modeling this process, using Reflexively Autocatalytic foodset-derived (RAF) networks. RAFs have been used to model the self-organization of adaptive networks associated with the origin and early evolution of both biological life, as well as the evolution and development of the kind of cognitive structure necessary for cultural evolution. The RAF approach is applicable in these seemingly disparate cases because it provides a theoretical framework for formally describing under what conditions systems composed of elements that interact and `catalyze’ the formation of new elements collectively become integrated wholes. In our application, the elements are mental representations, and the whole is a conceptual network. The initial components—referred to as foodset items—are mental representations that are innate, or were acquired through social learning or individual learning (of pre-existing information). The new elements—referred to as foodset-derived items—are mental representations that result from creative thought (resulting in new information). In clinical psychology, a client’s distress may be due to, or exacerbated by, one or more beliefs that diminish self-esteem. Such beliefs may be formed and sustained through distorted thinking, and the tendency to interpret ambiguous events as confirmation of these beliefs. We view psychotherapy as a creative collaborative process between therapist and client, in which the output is not an artwork or invention but a more well-adapted worldview and approach to life on the part of the client. In this paper, we model a hypothetical albeit representative example of the formation and dissolution of such beliefs over the course of a therapist–client interaction using RAF networks. We show how the therapist is able to elicit this worldview from the client and create a conceptualization of the client’s concerns. We then formally demonstrate four distinct ways in which the therapist is able to facilitate change in the client’s worldview: (1) challenging the client’s negative interpretations of events, (2) providing direct evidence that runs contrary to and counteracts the client’s distressing beliefs, (3) using self-disclosure to provide examples of strategies one can use to diffuse a negative conclusion, and (4) reinforcing the client’s attempts to assimilate such strategies into their own ways of thinking. We then discuss the implications of such an approach to expanding our knowledge of the development of mental health concerns and the trajectory of the therapeutic change.

This paper uses autocatalytic networks to model discontinuous cultural transitions involving cross-domain transfer, using as an illustrative example, artworks inspired by the oldest-known uncontested example of figurative art: the carving of the Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch, or lion-human. Autocatalytic networks provide a general modeling setting in which nodes are not just passive transmitters of activation; they actively galvanize, or “catalyze” the synthesis of novel (“foodset-derived”) nodes from existing ones (the “foodset.”) This makes them uniquely suited to model how new structure grows out of earlier structure, i.e., cumulative, generative network growth. They have been used to model the origin and early evolution of biological life, and the emergence of cognitive structures capable of undergoing cultural evolution. We conducted a study in which six individual creators and one group generated music, prose, poetry, and visual art inspired by the Hohlenstein-Stadel Löwenmensch, and answered questions about the process. The data revealed four through-lines by which they expressed the Löwenmensch in an alternative art form: (1) lion-human hybrid, (2) subtracting from the whole to reveal the form within, (3) deterioration, and (4) waiting to be found with a story to tell. Autocatalytic networks were used to model how these four spontaneously derived through-lines form a cultural lineage from Löwenmensch to artist to audience. We used the resulting data from three creators to model the cross-domain transfer from inspirational source (sculpted figurine) to creative product (music, poetry, prose, visual art). These four spontaneously-generated threads of cultural continuity formed the backbone of this Löwenmensch-inspired cultural lineage, enabling culture to evolve even in the face of discontinuity at the level conventional categories or domains. We know of no other theory of cultural evolution that accommodates cross-domain transfer or other forms of discontinuity. The approach paves the way for a broad scientific framework for the origins of evolutionary processes.

IntroductionOver 4 million students travel outside their home countries to pursue tertiary education in the world, with over 600,000 students traveling to Canada alone. Adjustment to new cultures has often been shown to be stressful. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant global event that has affected all aspects of life in different ways. Although there is research showing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students globally, the study of the experiences of incoming cohorts of international students, particularly during the process of planning, traveling, and arriving at the host country, is still evolving.MethodsGiven that international students are sometimes at higher risk for mental health concerns, this qualitative study sought to explore the experiences of six incoming international graduate students, ages 18 to 32, through a semi-structured interview, as they moved from their home country to Canada. It explored their cultural adjustment in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic using a thematic analysis, through a descriptive phenomenological paradigm.ResultsSix themes emerged: choosing graduate programs; influence of pandemic on admission acceptance, moving to Canada, university experiences, adjustment; and adjustment as a student. Overall, international students appear to experience a “double dose” of stressors - the typical stressors of student hood, COVID-19 related challenges, as well as their unique manifestations in the context of being an international student.DiscussionLimitations and implications of the study are discussed.

The subculture of mortuary workers spends much of its working hours with the dead. Society fails to acknowledge much of the psychological distress they experience, such as use of maladaptive coping mechanisms, substance use etc. Few studies have investigated mortuary workers, especially in developing nations. This exploratory study in Bengaluru, India aimed to gather and consider the perspectives of three mortuary workers, one doctor of forensic medicine and one mental health professional regarding the stresses of working with death. A thematic analysis of these interviews revealed the themes of occupational support and psychological effects of mortuary work. The unique nature of their job suggests further research is required regarding a need for counselling practices, designed to alleviate their stress.

This chapter develops the theory that there are two kinds of self-organizing, self-mending, selfreproducing structures in the world. The first is living organisms. The second is complex minds, or more precisely, worldviews: ways of seeing the world and being in the world, i.e., networks of memory and knowledge that constitute the content of complex minds. The chapter explores the role played by two forms of exaptation-biological and psychological-in the perpetuation of these self-organizing structures. Biological exaptation occurs when selective environmental pressures cause the exploitation of potentiality, while psychological exaptation involves the ability to modify/change a pattern of cognition to incorporate different perspectives, thereby increasing cultural variation. While the former is associated with survival, the latter has farreaching consequences in terms of how humans view not only the world around them, but also their own place within it. Within psychological exaptation, the difference between generic and strategic exaptation has been drawn to illustrate the unique attributes of the exaptation process in humans. Strategic exaptation operates through a process of representational redescription, reflexivity, and autocatalysis, that allows for humans to use psychological exaptation for processes that are adaptive, open-ended, and cumulative. Towards the end of the chapter, a brief overview of a quantum model for exaptation has been provided.