I propose that a self-organising system of feedback cycles organises human behaviour.

Networks and self-organisation

A network is a collection of interacting objects (Watts, 2003, p. 27).

When the interactions within a network form feedback cycles, the network may become capable of self-organisation, that is, the spontaneous emergence of order without central control (Capra, 1997, p. 82).

Self-organising systems require a continuous flow of energy or resources to sustain these feedback processes.

Capra describes the web of life as composed of networks within networks, in which the nodes of any given network are themselves networks (1997, p. 35). Here is a biological example of nested, self-organising networks:

• A network of atoms forms a molecule.
• A network of molecules forms a cell.
• A network of cells forms an organ.
• A network of organs forms an individual human body.
• A network of humans forms a society.

At each level of this hierarchy, new forms of organisation and new system properties arise.

A self-organising system

A self-organising system can be seen as a network of interacting components in which feedback cycles, sustained by ongoing energy or resource inputs, generate emergent patterns of organisation without external direction.

Self-organisation & human functioning

I propose a network structure for human psychological and social functioning:

• A network of actions, ideas, and feelings forms a habit.
• A network of habits forms an individual’s character.
• A network of individuals forms a social group.

The energy humans use to self-organise comes from the food they eat.

Psychodrama role theory supports focusing on a person’s actions, ideas, and feelings in identifying a role: ‘the functioning form that the individual assumes in the specific moment he reacts to a specific situation’ (Moreno 1964, p. 185). For example, one role that a person could have, in a particular situation, is “the angry, yelling, child protector”, where the action is yelling, the emotion is anger, and the motivating idea is to protect a child.

Habits

A habit is an activity that a person repeats with little or no conscious deliberation, a way of thinking, feeling, or acting in response to a familiar situation. A person can perform multiple habits at the same time, such as speaking in their own language with their own accent and mannerisms and riding a bike. Habits can be adaptive or maladaptive: some support effective functioning (e.g., regular exercise), while others can undermine it (e.g., gambling). Habits include:

• Weinberg’s ordinary habits and compulsive habits.
• Psychodynamic defences: habitual responses to hidden feelings or conflict.
• Adequate and overdeveloped life roles, but not underdeveloped or embryonic roles.
• Skills such as walking, talking, tying shoelaces, and playing the guitar are each done in a person’s own characteristic way.

Feedback cycles in human habits

Habits develop as feedback cycles organise a person’s actions, ideas, and feelings. Many feedback cycles contribute to habit development: self-reinforcing cycles and damping cycles.

Chosen actions & motivation

Repeat a chosen action.		Reinforce each motivating idea and feeling.

Diagram: The feedback cycle amplifying (1) the performance of a chosen activity and (2) the strength of its motivations

See my page on the feedback cycles based on Weinberg’s concepts. 

The Dread, Defence, Damage Cycle

More Defence, e.g. gambing		More damage
	Greater Dread

Diagram: The cycle amplifying (1) compulsive gambling, (2) the resulting damage, and (3) the motivating dread.

See my page on the feedback cycles based on Malan’s psychodynamics.

Compulsive activities are perverse because the resulting damage does not decrease the defensive activity; it increases it.

For these and other feedback cycles that organise how habits stabilise, intensify, or weaken over time, see amplifying cycles and human functioning.

Emergent properties

A defining feature of self-organising systems is the emergence of properties that do not exist at lower levels of complexity. For example, when atoms bond to form a sugar molecule, the emergent property of sweetness arises. This sweetness does not exist in the individual carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms that constitute the molecule (Capra, 1997, p. 28).

A property that emerges from each person’s network of habits or roles is the person’s self or character. This concept is consistent with Moreno, who saw roles as the building blocks of the self. “Role playing is prior to the self. Roles do not emerge from the self, but the self emerges from roles” (Moreno, 1964: ii). Character is evident in a person’s habits; for example, those habits can reveal a sweet-natured way of relating.

Tentative hypothesis

Capra’s work makes it clear that self-organisation in living systems is a complex and contested subject. Accordingly, I offer this framework only tentatively. Nonetheless, it may be a step towards a useful model of self-organising human functioning—one that integrates systems theory with established psychological concepts and offers a coherent way of understanding habits, character, and social organisation as emergent phenomena shaped by feedback cycles.

Counselling Pages & References

The introduction to my counselling pages includes:

• Links to the other counselling pages, which include pages describing how this approach relates to other counselling practices and theories, are at the top of the introduction page
• References for all the counselling pages are at the end of the introduction page.

Loaded 28 January 2026; Updated 9 July 2026.