| Here the basic tenets and philosophical roots of chaos, and chaos theory are explored. Some of the main features of chaos theory are applied to developmental and therapeutic models in psychology. In the second segment, an enlargement of Kuhn's (1970) concept, the paradigm, is advanced via the concept of dimensionality (Butz, 1990a, 1991c). The discussion is based upon concepts found in chaos theory, most notably self-similarity and nonlinearity, in an examination of the paradigms currently operating in science, psychology, developmental psychology and clinical psychology. In the final segment, chaos theory is addressed in terms of its promise not only for the proposed novel perspective it lends to the developmental cycle, but also for its implications in a therapeutic context, and as a model for the unification of psychology. Concepts such as the Transcendent cycle (Butz, 1990b), the Transitory self (Butz, 1991a) and the Symobia (Butz, 1992b, d, e, f) are offered in order to provide a new symbolic developmental perspective from a chaos theory point of view. The implications for therapy are discussed, and a case illustration is offered. Finally, Prigogine's work of dissipative structures is featured as a model for unifying different perspectives in theories of aging, in a self-similar model to psychology as a whole. |
