THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

Built on Established Science

TEG-Blue integrates insights from established research traditions across neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and trauma studies. Here's what informs each framework.

Frameworks

47+

Research Domains

139+

Aligned Theories

135+

Key Researchers

Neuroscience

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheoryNeuroceptionAutonomic Nervous System research

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Deb Dana

Affective Neuroscience

Theories & Models

Primary Emotional SystemsSomatic Marker HypothesisTheory of Constructed Emotion

Key Researchers

Jaak Panksepp · Antonio Damasio · Lisa Feldman Barrett · Joseph LeDoux

Trauma Research

Theories & Models

Trauma and the bodySomatic ExperiencingSensorimotor Psychotherapy

Key Researchers

Bessel van der Kolk · Peter Levine · Pat Ogden · Judith Herman

Attachment Theory

Theories & Models

Attachment as regulatory systemAttachment patternsAffect regulation

Key Researchers

John Bowlby · Mary Ainsworth · Mary Main · Allan Schore

Emotion Science

Theories & Models

Process model of emotion regulationWindow of toleranceBroaden-and-build theory

Key Researchers

James Gross · Daniel Siegel · Barbara Fredrickson · Paul Ekman

Attachment Theory

Theories & Models

Attachment SystemStrange SituationAdult Attachment Interview

Key Researchers

John Bowlby · Mary Ainsworth · Mary Main

Object Relations

Theories & Models

True Self / False SelfSelf PsychologyIdentity Integration

Key Researchers

Donald Winnicott · Heinz Kohut · Otto Kernberg

Developmental Psychology

Theories & Models

Sense of SelfInterpersonal NeurobiologyAffect Regulation

Key Researchers

Daniel Stern · Daniel Siegel · Allan Schore · Edward Tronick

Trauma Research

Theories & Models

Developmental TraumaComplex PTSDSomatic Experiencing

Key Researchers

Bessel van der Kolk · Judith Herman · Peter Levine · Pat Ogden

Internal Family Systems

Theories & Models

Parts and SelfTrauma-informed parts work

Key Researchers

Richard Schwartz · Janina Fisher

Psychology

Theories & Models

Defense MechanismsTrue/False SelfOrganismic ValuingThe PersonaCognitive Dissonance

Key Researchers

Sigmund Freud · Donald Winnicott · Carl Rogers · Carl Jung · Leon Festinger

Sociology

Theories & Models

Dramaturgical TheorySocial/Cultural CapitalSymbolic Interactionism

Key Researchers

Erving Goffman · Pierre Bourdieu

Therapy

Theories & Models

Parts Work (IFS)EMDRSomatic Trauma WorkEmotion-Focused Therapy

Key Researchers

Richard Schwartz · Janina Fisher

Sociology

Theories & Models

Habitus & Social ReproductionDramaturgical TheoryRole Theory

Key Researchers

Pierre Bourdieu · Erving Goffman

Psychology

Theories & Models

Attachment TheorySchema TherapyInternal Family Systems

Key Researchers

John Bowlby · Jeffrey Young · Richard Schwartz

Trauma Studies

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheoryComplex PTSD modelsIntergenerational Trauma

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Judith Herman · Pete Walker

Cultural Studies

Theories & Models

Feminist TheoryCritical Race TheoryQueer Theory

Key Researchers

Various scholars

Sociology - Capital & Reproduction

Theories & Models

Forms of CapitalSocial ReproductionStigmaUnequal Childhoods

Key Researchers

Pierre Bourdieu · Basil Bernstein · Erving Goffman · Annette Lareau

Social Psychology - Status

Theories & Models

Status Characteristics TheorySocial Dominance TheorySystem Justification

Key Researchers

Joseph Berger · Jim Sidanius · Felicia Pratto · John Jost · Mahzarin Banaji

Network Science

Theories & Models

Eigenvector CentralityScale-free NetworksStrength of Weak TiesSocial Capital

Key Researchers

Phillip Bonacich · Albert-László Barabási · Mark Granovetter · Nan Lin

Critical Theory

Theories & Models

IntersectionalityMatrix of DominationMeritocracy CritiqueCapability Approach

Key Researchers

Kimberlé Crenshaw · Patricia Hill Collins · Michael Young · Amartya Sen

Neuroscience - Social

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheoryAllostatic LoadStress and HierarchySocial Rank Theory

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Bruce McEwen · Robert Sapolsky · Paul Gilbert

Health Psychology

Theories & Models

Spirit Level (Inequality & Health)Weathering Hypothesis

Key Researchers

Richard Wilkinson · Kate Pickett · Arline Geronimus

Cognitive Psychology

Theories & Models

Cognitive Bias (Heuristics & Biases)Cognitive DissonanceMotivated ReasoningConfirmation Bias

Key Researchers

Daniel Kahneman · Amos Tversky · Leon Festinger · Ziva Kunda

Social Psychology

Theories & Models

Social Identity TheorySystem Justification TheoryMoral Foundations TheoryTerror Management Theory

Key Researchers

Henri Tajfel · John Turner · John Jost · Jonathan Haidt · Sheldon Solomon

Neuroscience

Theories & Models

Predictive Coding / Free Energy PrincipleNeuroceptionSomatic Marker Hypothesis

Key Researchers

Karl Friston · Stephen Porges · Antonio Damasio · Joseph LeDoux

Implicit Cognition

Theories & Models

Implicit BiasImplicit Association Test

Key Researchers

Anthony Greenwald · Mahzarin Banaji · Brian Nosek · Patricia Devine

Therapeutic Models

Theories & Models

Cognitive TherapySchema TherapyInternal Family Systems

Key Researchers

Aaron Beck · Jeffrey Young · Richard Schwartz

Clinical Psychology

Theories & Models

Narcissism researchDark TriadMachiavellianism

Key Researchers

Various clinical researchers

Power & Corruption

Theories & Models

How power changes cognition and empathy

Key Researchers

Dacher Keltner · Adam Galinsky · Deborah Gruenfeld · Cameron Anderson

Developmental Pathways

Theories & Models

Callous-unemotional traitsAntisocial developmentGene-environment factors

Key Researchers

Paul Frick · Essi Viding · Terrie Moffitt · Adrian Raine · Avshalom Caspi

Attachment & Control

Theories & Models

Disorganized attachmentControlling behavior

Key Researchers

Mary Main · Karlen Lyons-Ruth · Erik Hesse

Coercive Control & Abuse

Theories & Models

Patterns of domination in relationships

Key Researchers

Evan Stark · Michael Johnson · Lenore Walker · Donald Dutton · Lundy Bancroft

Dehumanization

Theories & Models

Moral DisengagementHow harm becomes possible

Key Researchers

Albert Bandura · Nick Haslam · Herbert Kelman · James Waller

Shame & Rage

Theories & Models

Shame-rage spiralHumiliated fury and violence

Key Researchers

Helen Block Lewis · James Gilligan · June Tangney · Thomas Scheff

Perpetrator Psychology

Theories & Models

How ordinary people cause harm

Key Researchers

Ervin Staub · James Waller · Roy Baumeister · Philip Zimbardo · Christopher Browning

Developmental Psychology

Theories & Models

True Self / False SelfIdentity StagesIdentity Status

Key Researchers

Donald Winnicott · Erik Erikson · James Marcia

Attachment Theory

Theories & Models

Secure BaseDynamic-Maturational ModelEarned Security

Key Researchers

John Bowlby · Mary Ainsworth · Patricia Crittenden

Somatic & Neuroscience

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheorySomatic ExperiencingInterpersonal Neurobiology

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Peter Levine · Daniel Siegel · Antonio Damasio

Trauma & Healing

Theories & Models

Body Keeps the ScoreParts WorkSelf-Compassion

Key Researchers

Bessel van der Kolk · Janina Fisher · Kristin Neff · Tara Brach

Parts Work

Theories & Models

Internal Family SystemsStructural Dissociation

Key Researchers

Richard Schwartz · Janina Fisher · van der Hart · Nijenhuis · Steele

Corrective Experience

Theories & Models

Corrective Emotional ExperienceAEDPEmotion-Focused Therapy

Key Researchers

Franz Alexander · Diana Fosha · Leslie Greenberg · Sue Johnson

Neurodiversity Paradigm

Theories & Models

Neurodiversity conceptNeuroTribes

Key Researchers

Judy Singer · Nick Walker · Steve Silberman

Neuroscience & Cognition

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheoryIntense World TheoryPredictive Processing

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Henry & Kamila Markram · Karl Friston

Disability Studies

Theories & Models

Social Model of DisabilityCritical Disability Theory

Key Researchers

Mike Oliver · Tom Shakespeare · Lennard Davis

Clinical & Trauma

Theories & Models

Developmental context of ADHDMasking researchAutistic burnout

Key Researchers

Gabor Maté · Bessel van der Kolk · Devon Price · Kieran Rose

Education & Design

Theories & Models

Universal Design for LearningPower of Neurodiversity

Key Researchers

CAST · Thomas Armstrong · Carol Ann Tomlinson

Family Systems

Theories & Models

Family Systems TheoryStructural Family TherapyContextual Therapy

Key Researchers

Murray Bowen · Salvador Minuchin · Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy

Trauma & Attachment

Theories & Models

ACE StudiesTrauma & RecoveryAttachment Strategies

Key Researchers

Felitti & Anda · Judith Herman · Patricia Crittenden

Developmental Psychology

Theories & Models

GenerativityInterpersonal Neurobiology

Key Researchers

Erik Erikson · Daniel Siegel

Narrative & Epigenetics

Theories & Models

Narrative TherapyEpigenetics of Trauma

Key Researchers

Michael White · David Epston · Rachel Yehuda

Integration of F1-F10

Theories & Models

All previous frameworks contribute specific paradox patterns

Key Researchers

See Frameworks 1-10

Holding Capacity

Theories & Models

Both/And ThinkingMulti-RationalityCompassionate Investigation

Key Researchers

Therapeutic integration traditions

Dual-Process Theory

Theories & Models

System 1/System 2Two Minds Hypothesis

Key Researchers

Daniel Kahneman · Keith Stanovich · Richard West · Jonathan Evans

Neuroscience

Theories & Models

Polyvagal TheorySomatic Marker HypothesisThreat Detection

Key Researchers

Stephen Porges · Antonio Damasio · Joseph LeDoux · Lisa Feldman Barrett

Attachment Theory

Theories & Models

Attachment patterns as regulatory strategies

Key Researchers

John Bowlby · Mary Main · Mary Ainsworth

Trauma Research

Theories & Models

Chronic lower-gradient activation

Key Researchers

Bessel van der Kolk · Judith Herman · Peter Levine

Emotion Regulation

Theories & Models

State-dependent capacityDBT

Key Researchers

James Gross · Daniel Siegel · Marsha Linehan

Social Psychology

Theories & Models

Situational factors in behavior

Key Researchers

Stanley Milgram · Philip Zimbardo

TEG-Blue synthesizes these research traditions into a unified framework. Each framework builds on established science while offering an integrated lens for understanding emotional experience and behavior.

The Emotional Gradient

Neuroscience

Affective Neuroscience

Trauma Research

Attachment Theory

Emotion Science

Identity as Adaptive System

Attachment Theory

Object Relations

Developmental Psychology

Trauma Research

Internal Family Systems

Cognitive Coherence & False Coherence

Psychology

Sociology

Therapy

Threat-Based Rule Internalization

Sociology

Psychology

Trauma Studies

Cultural Studies

Threat-Driven Worth Sorting

Sociology - Capital & Reproduction

Social Psychology - Status

Network Science

Critical Theory

Neuroscience - Social

Health Psychology

State-Dependent Perception

Cognitive Psychology

Social Psychology

Neuroscience

Implicit Cognition

Therapeutic Models

The Anatomy of Tyranny

Clinical Psychology

Power & Corruption

Developmental Pathways

Attachment & Control

Coercive Control & Abuse

Dehumanization

Shame & Rage

Perpetrator Psychology

Self-Reconnection & Role Mask Loosening

Developmental Psychology

Attachment Theory

Somatic & Neuroscience

Trauma & Healing

Parts Work

Corrective Experience

Nervous System Variation

Neurodiversity Paradigm

Neuroscience & Cognition

Disability Studies

Clinical & Trauma

Education & Design

Generational Transmission

Family Systems

Trauma & Attachment

Developmental Psychology

Narrative & Epigenetics

Emotional Logic of Paradoxes

Integration of F1-F10

Holding Capacity

Our Two Information Systems

Dual-Process Theory

Neuroscience

Attachment Theory

Trauma Research

Emotion Regulation

Social Psychology