{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T20:14:58Z","timestamp":1793218498698,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":81,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]],"date-time":"2025-08-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755561600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper introduces Active Intersubjective Inference (AISI), a novel framework that integrates psychodynamic theory with predictive processing to explain self-identity construction and psychopathology. AISI posits that the self emerges from recursive inferences about how others perceive us (second-order self), interacting bidirectionally with interoceptive processes. We map psychodynamic phenomena (e.g., transference, projection) onto neurocomputational mechanisms and apply AISI to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), highlighting distorted second-order inference as a core dysfunction. Therapeutic implications include psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral approaches, and psychedelic-assisted treatments to enhance inference flexibility. AISI bridges psychodynamic insights with the NIMH Research Domain Criteria, offering a testable model for precision psychiatry and future clinical trials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2025.1630858","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]],"date-time":"2025-08-19T05:20:15Z","timestamp":1755580815000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Active inference and psychodynamics: a novel integration with applications to depression and stress disorders"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Hebert W.","family":"Harris","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2013.09.007","article-title":"Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self","volume":"17","author":"Seth","year":"2013","journal-title":"Trends Cogn Sci"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2018.08.008","article-title":"Being a beast machine: The somatic basis of selfhood","volume":"22","author":"Seth","year":"2018","journal-title":"Trends Cogn Sci"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780190217013.001.0001","volume-title":"Surfing uncertainty: Prediction, action, and the embodied mind","author":"Clark","year":"2016"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn894","article-title":"How do you feel? 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