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Brain Sciences
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Beyond the Brain: Merging Embodied Mind and AI in the...
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Beyond the Brain: Merging Embodied Mind and AI in the Clinical Neuroscience of Psychotherapy

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 April 2026 | Viewed by 6738

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Sperandeo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy—SIPGI, 80058 Torre Annunziata, Italy
Interests: neuroscience; psychotherapy; pscychopathology; artificial intelligence; embodied mind; neural nets
Dr. Valeria Cioffi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy—SIPGI, 80058 Torre Annunziata, Italy
Interests: neuroscience; psychotherapy; pscychopathology; artificial intelligence; embodied mind; neural nets

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A complex holistic approach, integrating neuroscience and psychotherapy, has progressively spread in order to provide a global response to mental distress. Clinical neuroscience evidence integrates psychotherapy by offering a complete and multifaceted understanding of the human being, joining the biological dimension and the relational-cultural one, to create effective treatments. Additionally, due to AI, the patient–therapist system is explored as a complex, self-organizing, and autopoietic network. Overcoming the traditional mind–body distinction, and its related scientific simplifications, permits new interdisciplinary understanding. According to Cozolino, clinical neuroscience epistemology aims to understand the human mind as an integrated system, in which genetics, brain development, epigenetics, and attachment interact deeply to shape behavior and mental health. The aim of this Special Issue is to welcome contributions that embrace these epistemological perspectives, exploring projects that demonstrate the effectiveness of therapeutic processes through a complexity-oriented lens towards an integrated perspective in clinical neuroscience and psychotherapy.

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Sperandeo
Dr. Valeria Cioffi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • holistic approach
  • psychotherapy
  • neuroscience
  • complex systems
  • self-organization
  • interdisciplinary research
  • artificial intelligence
  • embodied mind

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 462 KB  
Article
Integration of Gestalt Therapy with Evidence-Based Interventions for Borderline Personality Disorder—Theoretical Framework and Clinical Model
by Enrico Moretto, Roberta Stanzione, Chiara Scognamiglio, Valeria Cioffi, Lucia Luciana Mosca, Francesco Marino, Ottavio Ragozzino, Enrica Tortora and Raffaele Sperandeo
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(10), 1109; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15101109 - 15 Oct 2025
Viewed by 2510
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Gestalt therapy traditionally opposes categorical diagnostic labelling due to its fundamental inconsistency with phenomenological and process-oriented ontology. However, this epistemological rigour can limit integration with structured evidence-based interventions for complex personality organizations such as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Despite the evidence base [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Gestalt therapy traditionally opposes categorical diagnostic labelling due to its fundamental inconsistency with phenomenological and process-oriented ontology. However, this epistemological rigour can limit integration with structured evidence-based interventions for complex personality organizations such as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Despite the evidence base for DBT and Schema Therapy in treating BPD, these approaches may inadvertently minimize the lived phenomenological experience and organismic wisdom central to recovery. Meanwhile, Gestalt therapy’s anti-diagnostic stance limits its integration with structured evidence-based protocols. This paper proposes a hybrid theoretical model that addresses this gap by integrating the clinical epistemology of Gestalt therapy with Linehan’s biosocial theory of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and schema-focused interventions, while preserving the core principles of Gestalt. Methods: we present a model of theoretical integration that draws on Gestalt contact theory, the four modules of DBT (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness) and the experiential techniques of Schema Therapy. The integration focuses on the dialectic of acceptance and change, which mirrors Gestalt’s paradoxical theory of change. The proposed framework preserves the non-protocol dimension of Gestalt therapy while incorporating the pragmatic utility of DBT and Schema Therapy. Results: key conceptual contributions we propose include: (1) theorizing the “Draft Self” as the object and subject of therapeutic work, (2) integrating mindfulness and grounding as embodied processes within live Gestalt experiments, (3) activation techniques to explore the identity fragmentation endemic to BPD. Conclusions:his integration offers a coherent, embodied, and process-oriented framework for understanding and treating BPD that validates patients’ lived experience, mobilizes evidence-based interventions, and opens up meaningful intertheoretical dialogue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Brain: Merging Embodied Mind and AI in the Clinical Neuroscience of Psychotherapy)
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Review

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21 pages, 488 KB  
Review
Entangled Autopoiesis: Reframing Psychotherapy and Neuroscience Through Cognitive Science and Systems Engineering
by Dana Rad, Monica Maier, Zorica Triff and Radiana Marcu
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(10), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15101032 - 24 Sep 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2333
Abstract
The increasing intersection of psychotherapy, cognitive science, neuroscience, and systems engineering beckons us to rethink what it means to talk the language of the human mind in the clinical setting. This position paper proposes the idea of entangled autopoiesis, a metatheoretical paradigm that [...] Read more.
The increasing intersection of psychotherapy, cognitive science, neuroscience, and systems engineering beckons us to rethink what it means to talk the language of the human mind in the clinical setting. This position paper proposes the idea of entangled autopoiesis, a metatheoretical paradigm that addresses the mind and therapy not as linear processes but as self-organizing, adaptive processes enfolded across neural, cognitive, relational, and cultural domains. Psychotherapy, from this viewpoint, is less a corrective technique and more a zone of systemic integration, wherein resilience and meaning are co-created in the interaction of embodied brains, lived stories, and relational fields. Neuroscience informs us about plasticity and regulation; cognitive science emphasizes the embodied and extended nature of cognition; and systems engineering sheds light on feedback, emergence, and adaptive dynamics. Artificial intelligence appears as a double presence: as a metaphor for complexity and as a practical tool able to chart patterns below human sensibility. By adopting a complexity-aware epistemology, we advocate a relocation in clinical thinking—one recognizing the psyche as an autopoietic network, entangled with culture and technology and able to renew itself in therapeutic encounters. The implications for clinical methodology, therapist training, and future interdisciplinary research are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Brain: Merging Embodied Mind and AI in the Clinical Neuroscience of Psychotherapy)
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Other

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24 pages, 542 KB  
Hypothesis
The Autism Open Clinical Model (A.-O.C.M.) as a Phenomenological Framework for Prompt Design in Parent Training for Autism: Integrating Embodied Cognition and Artificial Intelligence
by Flavia Morfini and Sebastian G. D. Cesarano
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(11), 1213; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15111213 - 11 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1080
Abstract
Background/Objectives: In the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, families express the need for dedicated clinical spaces to manage emotional overload and to develop effective relational skills. Parent training addresses this need by supporting the parent–child relationship and fostering the child’s [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: In the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, families express the need for dedicated clinical spaces to manage emotional overload and to develop effective relational skills. Parent training addresses this need by supporting the parent–child relationship and fostering the child’s development. This study proposes a clinical protocol designed for psychotherapists and behavior analysts, based on the Autism Open Clinical Model (A.-O.C.M.), which integrates the rigor of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with a phenomenological and embodied perspective. The model acknowledges technology—particularly artificial intelligence—as an opportunity to structure adaptive and personalized intervention tools. Methods: A multi-level prompt design system was developed, grounded in the principles of the A.-O.C.M. and integrated with generative AI. The tool employs clinical questions, semantic constraints, and levels of analysis to support the clinician’s reasoning and phenomenologically informed observation of behavior. Results: Recurrent relational patterns emerged in therapist–caregiver dynamics, allowing the identification of structural elements of the intersubjective field that are useful for personalizing interventions. In particular, prompt analysis highlighted how the quality of bodily and emotional attunement influences readiness for change, suggesting that intervention effectiveness increases when the clinician can adapt their style according to emerging phenomenological resonances. Conclusions: The design of clinical prompts rooted in embodied cognition and supported by AI represents a new frontier for psychotherapy that is more attuned to subjectivity. The A.-O.C.M. stands as a theoretical–clinical framework that integrates phenomenology and intelligent systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Beyond the Brain: Merging Embodied Mind and AI in the Clinical Neuroscience of Psychotherapy)
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