Psychological Counseling Platform: A Case Study of “Social Moves”

Oliver Ding -

On Sept 29, 2023, I launched the Activity Analysis & Intervention (AAI) Project on the Activity Analysis Center’s website.

Then, I sent it to a friend of mine.

On Sept 30, 2023, I made the following draft visual note and sent it to him.

I just now realized that the AAI model can be used to understand “social moves”.

See the attached visual note.

I added more circles to expand the original AAI model. Now it has 6 types of roles.

Supporters such as investors
Founders
Coaches
Consultants
Clients
Followers

Each circle is located in a “social zone” such as Markets, Clans, etc.

Moreover, each circle can be understood as an “AAS” (Anticipatory Activity System).

Now we have a rough theory of “social moves”.

People’s social life can be understood as moving between different types of “Activity Circles” and “Anticipatory activity system”.

Good mindsets could guide people to moving on the path to his ideal life, and bring positive Life experience, activate positive emotions.

Bad mindsets could lead to unsuccessful moves which cause negative Life experiences and negative emotions.

The “Social Moves” theme was born from my recent projects.

One important insight about the “Social Moves” theme is a case study about a web3.0 platform which is founded by a friend of mine.

I see the multiple circle structure in the web3 platform.

The multiple circle structure is also inspired by Ecological Psychologist Roger Barker’s Behavior Settings Theory.

I mentioned Barker’s Behavior Settings Theory in my email. Barker developed a systematic analysis method for the Behavior Settings theory. One module of his method is “Zone of Penetration” which refers to the penetration dimension of Behavior Settings. He identified seven Zones of Penetration(1989, p.127–128).

  • Zone 6: Single leader
  • Zone 5: Joined Leaders
  • Zone 4: Active functionary
  • Zone 6, 5, and 4: Operative or performers
  • Zone 3: Member or customer
  • Zone 2: Audience or invited guest
  • Zone 1: Onlookers
  • Zone 0: Potential inhabitants

This visual note is about the “Social Moves” project. The theme of Social Moves was inspired by the theme of Mental Moves. While the Mental Moves project is more about knowledge creators’ creative cognition, the Social Moves project is more about startup founders’ creative social action.

This is not a final solution to building a theoretical framework for understanding “Social Moves”, but a case study about it.

On Oct 10, 2023, I made the above diagram to reproduce the visual draft note.

I use a Psychological Counseling Platform as an example to run the case study. There are seven key roles in the platform:

  • Influencee
  • Supporter
  • Founder
  • Supervisor
  • Counselor
  • Client
  • Follower

Each Circle refers to an “Activity Circle” which refers to the social structure of “Self, Other, Thing, Think”.

We can also use “AAS (Anticiparoty Activity System)” to understand “Activity Circle” because AAS is about “Self, Other, Present, Future”.

The four types of activities indicate four types of AAS.

  • Clan
  • Hierarchy
  • Market
  • Network

People’s social life can be understood as moving between different types of “Activity Circles” and “Anticipatory Activity Systems”.