Temporal Psychology and Psychotherapy. The Human Being in Time and Beyond
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The Psychotherapeutic Dimension
The task of psychotherapy is to help the person restore synchrony with the epoch – not in the sense of imitating technologies, but by understanding their own temporal rhythm and accepting their place in the overall flow of history. For asynchronous personalities it is essential to recognise that their experience and depth belong to another phase of the wave – and precisely for that reason may be valuable: they carry the «memory of the previous cycle,» which is needed for balance and continuity.
Work with such clients includes:
– reducing guilt and shame about «lagging behind»;
– becoming aware of one’s own «temporal biography» – where one is located in the rhythms of the epoch;
– finding forms of participation in contemporary life without losing one’s identity;
– developing cognitive flexibility and tolerance of uncertainty characteristic of new technologies.
For transitional generations, psychotherapy helps integrate the double experience: to preserve inner supports from the old world and master new symbolic forms (virtual interaction, digital creativity, network ethics). For synchronous generations, conversely, the emphasis is on slowing down and forming deeper self-awareness, in order to avoid superficiality and fragmentation of digital time perception.
Thus, Kondratiev waves can be seen not only as macroeconomic regularities but also as rhythms of anthropic time that shape psychological types of the epoch. Understanding these rhythms opens a new perspective on individual destinies and crises – as reflections of the great oscillations of global civilisation.
Literature
Babones, S. – Global Kondratiev Waves and Political Transformations of World Systems, 2019.
Analyses how long economic cycles correlate with political shifts and transformations of world systems. Useful for extending long-wave logic to cultural and psychological change across generations.
Casiraghi, L., Spiousas, I., Dunster, G. P., et al. – «Lunar Sleep: Synchronization of Human Sleep with the Lunar Cycle under Natural Conditions,» 2021.
A prospective actigraphy-based study showing associations between lunar phases and changes in sleep onset and duration. Provides convincing empirical evidence that calls for replication across populations and settings.
Devezas, T. C. – «Biological Determinants of Long Waves of Socio-economic Growth,» 2015.
Explores analogies between biological rhythms and economic long waves. Offers a theoretical basis for the metaphor of «epochal generations» and for linking macro-cycles with human development.
Gaspel, J. A., et al. – «Perfect Timing: Circadian Rhythms, Sleep and Immunity,» 2020.
A modern review of interactions between circadian rhythms, sleep and immune function. Demonstrates systemic effects of daily cycles on health, stress resilience and mental state.
Glazyev, S. Yu. – Theory of Long-Term Techno-Economic Development, 1993.
A classic Russian exposition of long-wave theory in the context of technological paradigms. Important for understanding how technological shifts shape social structures and temporal experience.
Grinin, L. E. – Kondratiev Waves, Technological Modes and the Theory of Production Revolutions, 2012.
Shows the links between long waves and phases of technological development, describing how each wave creates a new type of society. Provides macro-historical context for technological epochs.
Kondratiev, N. D. – Long Waves in Economic Life, 1925.
The foundational work on long cycles in economic dynamics. Introduces the idea of long waves that later became a key framework for analysing technological and social rhythms.
Kravchenko, S. A. – Temporal Psychology and Psychotherapy: The Human in Time and Beyond, in progress.
Develops the idea of the person’s inner synchronisation with external rhythms – from biological to civilisational. In this framework, Kondratiev waves are interpreted as manifestations of a broader cosmic rhythm influencing psyche and destiny.
Litinski, M., et al. – «Impact of the Circadian System on Disease Severity: A Review,» 2009.
Epidemiological and clinical review showing how time of day and circadian phase affect disease outcomes. Supports the concept of «circadian medicine» relevant for temporal clinical practice.
Nefiodov, L. – The Sixth Kondratiev Wave: The New Long Wave of the World Economy, 2014.
Discusses the current digital-biotechnological cycle, in which the human being becomes part of the technological system rather than just a consumer. Important for understanding psychological pressures of the present wave.
Nishimura, T., Tada, H., Nakadani, E., et al. – «Stronger Geomagnetic Fields as a Possible Risk Factor for Male Suicide,» Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 2014.
A regional study showing a possible association between geomagnetic field intensity and male suicide rates. An example of carefully conducted analysis that nonetheless requires replication.
Rönneberg, T. – «The Circadian System, Sleep and the Balance of Health and Disease,» Journal of Sleep Research, 2022.
Conceptual review that frames the circadian system as a central regulator of health and disease. Helps situate temporal clinical work within the emerging field of circadian medicine.
Rosenthal, N. E., Sack, D. A., Gillin, J. C., et al. – «Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Description of the Syndrome and Preliminary Findings with Light Therapy,» Archives of General Psychiatry, 1984.
First clinical description of seasonal affective disorder and the use of light therapy. A foundational study that launched modern chronopsychiatric approaches.
Rotton, J., & Kelly, I. W. – «Much Ado about the Full Moon: A Meta-analysis of Lunar-Lunacy Research,» Psychological Bulletin, 1985.
A classic meta-analysis showing the methodological fragility and ambiguity of claimed lunar effects. Emphasises the need for rigorous prospective designs and cautions against retrospective myth-making.
Tulin, A. E., & Chursin, A. A. – «Developing Kondratiev Long-Wave Theory: The Place of AI Economy and Humanisation of Competences,» Philosophy of Science and Technology, 2023.
Highlights artificial intelligence as a key factor in the sixth long wave and discusses changes in human competences in the AI epoch. Useful for linking technological trends with shifts in temporal experience and identity.
Vieira, S. L. Z., Alvarez, D., Blomberg, A., Schwartz, J., Kautz, B., Huang, S., & Koutrakis, P. – «Solar-Induced Geomagnetic Disturbances and Increased All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in 263 US Cities,» Environmental Health, 2019.
A large epidemiological study revealing correlations between geomagnetic disturbances and increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Provides material for hypotheses about cosmic influences on health.
Wirtz-Justice, A. – «Seasonality in Affective Disorders,» 2017—2018.
A modern overview of mechanisms behind seasonal mood fluctuations and hormonal cycles. Underlines the importance of chrono-therapeutic strategies in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Chapter 3. Inner Rhythms and the Limits of Connection with Time
Summary
This chapter immerses the reader in the world of the psyche’s inner rhythms – in how the person experiences the present, how the past resounds in the present, and how the future shapes the direction of life. We introduce the notion of an inner (introverted) temporal handwriting and examine three dimensions of time in the psyche: present, past and future. Special attention is given to altered states of consciousness (ASCs), through which the psyche can temporarily step beyond its usual rhythmic conditioning, and to the practical implications of this for therapy.
Key Concepts
– Temporal handwriting – an individual, characteristic way of experiencing time; an integration of biorhythms, cultural rhythms and personal modes of narrating one’s life. Components: biorhythms / external rhythms (lunar, seasonal, social) / narrative organisation (how a person tells their own story). Manifestations: speech tempo, attention to the «here,» frequency of retraumatisation, tendency toward premonitions. Practical assessment: questionnaires, time-stamped diaries, observational markers (speech tempo, degree of contact), actigraphy.
– Present (temporal «here-and-now») – the convergence point of experience, the field where subpersonalities meet and choices are made.
– Past – a storage of experience, memory, ancestral and cultural traces that resonate in the present.
– Future – projections, intentions, projects and unconscious outlines of expectation.
– Altered states of consciousness (ASCs) – modes of experiencing in which linear time weakens; a source of experiences of timelessness and eternity.
– Atemporality / time-void – different shades of experience in which ordinary chronology loses its primacy: from emptiness and apathy to peak insight.
Aims of the Chapter
– To formulate and justify the idea of inner dimensions of time – present, past and future – as distinct levels of experience and regulation.
– To show how temporal handwriting integrates these dimensions and how it is shaped by biorhythms, culture and personal history.
– To consider ASCs as a mechanism of temporary freeing from usual temporal conditioning and as a therapeutic resource, provided there is preparation and integration.
– To provide practical guidelines for assessing and working with inner rhythms in clinical practice.
Introduction – the Next Step
In Chapter 1 we became acquainted with the concept of temporal handwriting – a stable way of living in time. In Chapter 2 we expanded the picture by adding the external layer: the synchronisation of the person with cosmic (solar—geomagnetic), natural (daily, seasonal) and socio-historical rhythms. Now our path leads inward: to how the psyche itself constitutes time – how it experiences the present, stores the past and lives through the future.
The inner world is where the introverted temporal handwriting is especially vivid. For an introvert, biorhythms and inner cycles are not just physiology but the fabric of meaning: sleep rhythms, mood arrhythmias, cycles of memories and premonitions form the rhythmic handwriting of inner life. Even for an extravert, inner rhythms are always present and interacting with external ones; the difference lies in the direction of sensitivity.
The question of the boundary between predetermination and freedom in time is central for temporal psychology. Where is the line between what «is given to us» (biorhythms, ancestral scripts, cultural codes) and what we can change – through practice, through attention, through work with symbol? This boundary is marked precisely at the points where the psyche transitions into other modes – altered states of consciousness. In ASCs, human experience goes beyond linear sequence: past, present and future cease to be separate coordinates, and another kind of fabric of meaning arises.
Three Dimensions of Inner Time: Present, Past, Future
1. The Present – the Field of Assembly
The present is not the simple instant of the clock but a field in which sensory data, emotions, images and intentions come together. It is the point where subpersonalities meet and decisions are made. The quality of the present depends on the tempo of perception: a sharp, «short» present gives rise to anxiety and impulsivity; a stretched present allows depth of experience and reflection.
In therapy it is practically important to distinguish when the client is genuinely present in the now, and when their «here» is filled with echoes of the past or projections of the future. Work with anchors of presence, with breathing and sensory techniques is the key to training the present.
2. The Past – the Resonance Chamber of the Psyche
The past is not only biographical facts but also their subtle ecology: cultural scripts, family stories, epigenetic traces. Within the psyche, the past sounds like resonance, colouring current perceptions and motivational signals. Trauma makes this resonance painful: the past «intrudes» into the present, and experience loses the ability to be reframed in a broader narrative.
The therapeutic task is to help the client reconstruct the past not as a sentence but as a fabric of meaning: to untangle loops of repetition, allow memory to change the valence of events, and reduce the intensity of regressive reactions. By working with the past we change the form of the present.
3. The Future – Project and Expectation
The future is present in the psyche as projections, plans, «fictional finalisms» and unconscious premonitions. It sets the vector of motivation: expectation of hope or threat, projection of success or fear. For many psychotherapeutic approaches (Adler, Frankl), the future is a decisive organising factor of personality.
Consultations and therapies that restore to a person a sense of future (small attainable goals, visualisation, work with projections) can radically transform temporal handwriting: reducing the compulsive pull of the past and expanding the field of choice.
Interaction of the Three Dimensions and the Formation of Temporal Handwriting
Temporal handwriting is not a sum of three independent layers but their complex interrelation: in one person resonance of the past dominates, in another – a sped-up stream of the present, in a third – a strongly projective future. The quality of the handwriting is determined by biorhythms, traumatic experience, cultural belonging, family scripts and practices (religion, art, ritual).
An important observation: a change in any one of the three coordinates (for example, restoring contact with the body in the present) often initiates a redistribution of tensions in the other dimensions. This is precisely why therapy of temporal handwriting is effective: it works with the form of time, not only with its content.
Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) as a Way of Temporal Release
ASCs are not an «escape» from reality but a shift in the regulation of temporal modes. In ASCs we can observe:
– a suspension of linear chronology (past/future cease to be strictly sequential);
– an intensification of sensory presence (heightened «here-ness»);
– experiences of participation in eternity or, conversely, of painful time-void.
We can distinguish two types of ASCs:
– Involuntary – dreams, acute emotional episodes, epileptic and psychotic states. Their therapeutic potential is limited and requires great caution.
– Voluntary (guided) – meditative practices, autogenic training, controlled psychotherapeutic processes, psychedelic therapy under clinical supervision. These modes allow safer exploration and integration of experiences of atemporality.
ASCs demonstrate that temporal handwriting can not only be understood but also trained – we can develop flexibility of temporal modes, expand the capacity for choice and integration.
Therapeutic Principles for Working with Inner Rhythms
– Stabilisation before deepening. Skills of presence (anchoring, breathing, sleep hygiene) are the foundation. Without them, attempts to induce ASCs are risky.
– Stepwise expansion of experiential depth. Mini-entries, journaling, creative work, gradual integration.
– Symbolisation of experience. Translating experience into words, images, ornaments (masks, drawings) is the path toward stable integration.
– Contextualisation in family and cultural memory. Taking ancestors and cultural scripts into account reduces the risk of existential disorientation.
– Ethical boundaries. Informed consent, supervision, a plan for emergency support.
Conclusion – The Meaning of Working with Temporal Handwriting
Work with inner rhythms is deep therapy of the form of time. By changing the tempo, rhythm and vector of time, we change the very fabric of the psyche – its stability, creativity and capacity for meaning-making. In the following chapters we will move from theory to practice: we will examine in detail techniques of preparation, protocols for safely introducing ASCs and methods for integrating experiences of atemporality.
Literature
Grof, S. – The Holotropic Mind (1993).
A transpersonal model of the psyche describing the integration of extreme and mystical experiences; includes therapeutic protocols for safe work with altered states of consciousness.
Husserl, E. – Phenomenology of the Inner Consciousness of Time (lectures, c. 1905).
A classic exposition of the structure of inner time: retention, protention and the act of «now»; a philosophical foundation for analysing the temporal experience of consciousness.
James, W. – The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902).
Phenomenological descriptions of mystical states and experiences of eternity; a pioneering work in the psychology of spiritual experience.
Carhart-Harris, R. L., et al. – Neural correlates of the psychedelic state (psilocybin) (PNAS, 2012); «The Entropic Brain» (2014).
Modern neuroscientific studies explaining phenomena of ego dissolution, altered time perception and expanded consciousness.
Lutz, A., et al. – «Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice» (PNAS, 2004).
Neurophysiological evidence demonstrating the impact of long-term meditative practice on brain rhythms and states of attention.
Newberg, A., & d’Aquili, E. – Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (2001).
An attempt to integrate the phenomenology of religious experience with neurobiology; explores spiritual experiences as both biological and psychological processes.
Schultz, J. H. – Autogenic Training (1932 and later editions).
A practical method of self-regulation aimed at stabilising states and entering altered states of consciousness in a controlled manner; a foundational psychotechnical approach of the 20th century.
Jung, C. G. – «Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle» (essay, mid-20th century).
A study of archetypes and the collective unconscious; introduces synchronicity as a form of «atemporal» linkage between psychic and external events.
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Appendix to Chapter 3: Questionnaire «Experiencing Atemporality» and other tools.
Chapter 4. The Model of Time, Temporal Font and Language
Summary
In the previous chapters, we introduced the concept of temporal handwriting, traced the connections between the individual and the external rhythms of the Cosmos, and identified the key dimensions of time – past, present and future. This chapter develops a working map of the experience of time: it proposes a ternary model (1 – chronological; 2 – psychological; 0 – atemporality) as a tool for diagnosis and for designing interventions, especially in the context of altered states of consciousness (ASC). In addition to the model, we discuss «temporal fonts» and languages (cultural, familial, ornamental codes), mechanisms of shifts between temporal regimes, the practical logic of application, and ethical and methodological caveats.
Key concepts
Temporal handwriting – an individual style of experiencing time.
ASC (altered states of consciousness) – states (meditation, hypnosis, relaxation, autogenic training, trance or psychedelic practices) in which the usual organization of time changes: expansion or compression of duration appears, as well as access to atemporal insights and symbols.
Chronological (linear) time – the external, measurable axis (clocks, calendars, biorhythms, social schedules).
Psychological time – the subjective duration of experience: speed, retention, protention.
Atemporality (timelessness, «0») – a mode in which linearity loses its power; an experience of wholeness/eternity.
Ternary coding (1/2/0) – a working metaphor for coding temporal regimes.
Temporal font / language of time – stable cultural—familial and personified patterns of organizing time (ornaments, rhythms, narratives).
Aims of the chapter
– To propose a practical, operational model of the experience of time, convenient for diagnosis and for planning interventions.
– To show how altered states of consciousness (ASC) shift combinations of temporal regimes and open space for therapeutic work.
– To introduce the notion of «temporal fonts» and languages as cultural and symbolic codes of time, and to show their diagnostic and therapeutic value.
– To outline methodological approaches, criteria of success, and ethical constraints when working with ASC and temporal interventions.
1. Introduction – From Map to Instrument
We are moving from description to instrument. If the first three chapters served as a map (handwriting – external rhythms – internal dimensions), then here the task is to make the map operational: to learn how to see, code and manage temporal regimes. Altered states of consciousness (ASC) are not a goal in themselves, but an experiential—instrumental zone in which shifts of regimes become visible and thus available for observation, practical training and, when necessary, therapeutic influence.
The appendix to this chapter contains a list of exercises for developing ASC.
2. A Working Model of the Experience of Time
Three Interpenetrating Regimes
The model is based on three broad, but flexible, modalities of experiencing time.
1. Chronological (linear) time
This is the «external» axis – clocks, calendars, biological cycles, social schedules and institutions. It gives the world measurability and predictability. In the therapeutic context, chronological time is the sphere of regulation (sleep, nutrition, prescribed treatment), planning, and adaptation to the demands of society.
2. Psychological time
The subjective duration of experience: tempo, richness, retention (what is held from the past) and protention (what the future is reaching toward). Here the temporal handwriting of the individual is formed: one person lives «in long brushstrokes,» another – in «flashes,» a third constantly jumps between past and future. Psychological time is the key to understanding individual experience and to choosing interventions.
3. Atemporality (timelessness, «0»)
A mode in which habitual linearity loses its power: «before» and «after» disappear, and the main focus becomes the quality of «being,» the sense of wholeness and participation. This mode arises in meditative practices, deep ASC, mystical insights; it can be a resource (transformation, insight) or a risk (disorientation, intensified dissociation), depending on preparation and integration.