Emotional intelligence research has increasingly moved from broad trait-based models toward process-oriented frameworks that account for the sequential, systemic nature of affective experience. This paper presents the Presence Framework, a conceptual model that integrates established theories of cognitive appraisal, interoception, and autonomic nervous system regulation into a structured, modular system for emotional processing. The framework introduces the Emotional Clarity Operating System (ECOS), a five-function model comprising sense(), mirror(), decode(), shift(), and log() operations, each corresponding to a discrete stage of emotional data acquisition, interpretation, and behavioral response. The paper further introduces the constructs of Frames and Signals as temporal categories for classifying acute versus chronic emotional data, and positions the TriLateral Voice (TLV) model as the expressive output stage of the full framework. Drawing on Lazarus's cognitive appraisal theory, Gross's process model of emotion regulation, research in interoceptive accuracy, and vocal affect science, the Presence Framework is proposed as a theoretically grounded and clinically applicable tool for structured emotional self-regulation. Implications for therapeutic practice, organizational behavior, and human-computer interaction are discussed. Keywords: emotional intelligence, cognitive appraisal, interoception, emotion regulation, ECOS, presence, reflective processing
Koushik Gaja (Wed,) studied this question.