Mapping Change in Counselling: A Recursive Process Model to Stabilize the Formation of New Identity

Despite the proliferation of psychotherapeutic modalities, the field lacks a unified, process-level account of how psychological change occurs. Existing approaches provide effective techniques and theoretical frameworks, yet often remain descriptively rich but mechanistically diffuse. This paper argues that contemporary psychotherapy is converging toward a common set of process components—affective activation, symbolic mediation, meaning revision, narrative integration, and behavioral reinforcement—without formally integrating them into a unified architecture.In response, this paper proposes the Recursive Identity Stabilization Encoding (RISE) model as a minimal, complete, and recursive mechanism of change. RISE articulates a sequential and iterative process—Affect → Symbol → Meaning → Narrative → Behavior—through which psychological transformation is initiated, structured, and stabilized. Rather than introducing a new therapeutic modality, RISE is presented as a meta-architectural process underlying diverse psychotherapeutic approaches. The model provides a framework for integrating existing modalities, specifying causal pathways, and generating testable hypotheses for future research.