ABSTRACT
The evolution of the concept of the self is somewhat similar to the theoretical vicissitudes of the multifaceted concept of time. Time went from being denied as a dimension (only a perceptual category) to an absolute dimension (Newtonian) at the end of the nineteenth century; since the beginning of the twentieth century, from Plank/Einstein onwards, it has become a subjective dimension. In the realm of physics of complex systems, the dynamic balance between continuity and discontinuity is called transformation. De Toni and Comello wrote: ‘searching for the dynamic equilibrium between continuity and discontinuity, i.e. transforming, means creating, adapting to and exploiting the vital coexistence between the two extremes’. The fundamental objective of adaptation is achieved through the regular redefinition of the relationship between the complex system and the external environment. Good therapy means to timely target such a deeper dynamic layer of the self-based time in order to ‘bring back the self to the world’.
