A Complex Systems Sensibility: The Contribution of Philip Bromberg

Abstract

Philip Bromberg's seminal and highly influential theory of self-states will be addressed from the perspective of complex systems theory. In his writing about self-states, Bromberg makes explicit links to several of the ideas and concepts arising from the complex systems literature, including his discussion of the nonlinear and discontinuous nature of self-state transitions. In this article, I will draw parallels not directly taken up by Bromberg. First, I will discuss the fundamental dynamics and properties of Bromberg's theory of mind in terms of control and order parameters. Second, I will point out the relationship between Bromberg's self-states and configurations of self-states to the concepts of attractors and attractor landscapes. Third, I will use the concept of hysteresis to understand Bromberg's discussion of the proactive and protective function of “not-me” self-states.

Keywords:

• attractors
• character
• complex systems
• dissociation
• hysteresis
• self-organization
• self-states

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Craig Piers

Craig Piers, Ph.D., is Director of Education and Training in the Psychological Counseling Service at Williams College. Prior to joining the staff at Williams, he was Associate Director of Admissions and a supervising psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center, where he still holds a position as a Research Consultant. Dr. Piers's published articles and book chapters have addressed personality, psychotherapeutic impasse, suicide, and complex adaptive systems. He is editor of Personality and Psychopathology: Critical Dialogues with David Shapiro (Springer, 2011) and co-editor (with John Muller and Joseph Brent) of Self-Organizing Complexity in Psychological Systems (Jason Aronson, 2007). He is also an associate editor of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and serves as a reviewer for several other professional journals.