A Multilevel Model of
Psychological Resilience
McRT conceptualizes resilience as a dynamic, feedback-driven system organized across three interrelated layers. Rather than treating resilience as a fixed trait, the framework models it as an ongoing process of monitoring, regulation, and adaptation — applicable across both everyday counseling practice and extreme environments including long-duration spaceflight.
Three Layers. Continuous Feedback. One System.
The McRT model organizes resilience across three distinct but interconnected domains of functioning. Processes at one level continuously influence and are influenced by processes at other levels — reflecting a dynamic, feedback-driven model rather than a linear sequence.
Across all three layers, reflexivity operates as a cross-cutting process — enabling individuals to examine recurring patterns, revise interpretations, and adapt responses in alignment with evolving demands.
Each Layer in Depth
Each layer represents a distinct domain of functioning — with its own core processes, mechanisms, and clinical relevance. Together, they form a coordinated system in which adaptation emerges through ongoing interaction.
Layer 1
Metacognitive Regulation
The foundational layer of the McRT model, encompassing processes related to the awareness, monitoring, and regulation of thought. This layer includes the capacity to observe cognitive activity, evaluate beliefs about thinking, and intentionally modify cognitive responses in the service of adaptive functioning.
Layer 2
Relational Responsivity
The interpersonal dimension of resilience, emphasizing how individuals engage with others in ways that support adaptive functioning. This layer includes processes such as interpersonal awareness, feedback sensitivity, communication, and co-regulation — all of which contribute to the stability and effectiveness of relational systems.
Layer 3
Contextual Adaptability
The capacity to flexibly align cognitive and relational processes with environmental demands. This layer reflects the ability to accurately appraise situational conditions and select responses that are contextually appropriate — recognizing that strategies effective in one context may be ineffective or maladaptive in another.
Reflexivity
Reflexivity is not a fourth layer — it is a process that operates across and within all three layers simultaneously. It extends metacognitive monitoring by emphasizing ongoing examination of one's thoughts, emotional responses, relational patterns, and meaning-making processes across contexts.
Within McRT, reflexivity enhances the coordination of cognitive, relational, and contextual processes by enabling individuals to identify recurring patterns, revise interpretations, and adapt responses in alignment with evolving demands.
"Reflexivity enables individuals and systems to detect patterns of misalignment, evaluate their consequences, and adjust strategies over time — moving from reactive or habitual responding toward more flexible, context-sensitive regulation."
Reflexivity Across the Three Layers
Reflexivity supports deeper examination of how maladaptive cognitive patterns emerge over time and how they relate to broader meaning-making and self-concept. It facilitates ongoing monitoring of attentional habits and supports intentional shifts in cognitive engagement.
Reflexivity enables individuals to examine recurring relational patterns — tendencies toward withdrawal, conflict, or overaccommodation — and to consider how these patterns shape interpersonal outcomes. It strengthens co-regulation by fostering awareness of how one's responses affect others.
Reflexivity contributes to contextual appraisal by enabling individuals to reflect on prior experiences, evaluate the effectiveness of past strategies, and adapt their approach in light of changing conditions — supporting more precise alignment between internal processes and external demands.
Recursive Dynamics of the Model
A defining feature of McRT is the recursive interaction among its three layers. These layers operate through bidirectional feedback loops — adaptation emerges through ongoing cycles of monitoring, feedback, and adjustment across levels of functioning, rather than following a linear sequence.
Increased metacognitive awareness may improve communication and reduce interpersonal conflict — as individuals gain clarity about their internal states, relational interactions become more deliberate and adaptive.
Relational feedback may enhance or challenge an individual's understanding of their cognitive and emotional patterns — the responses of others provide data that refines metacognitive self-knowledge.
Changing environmental demands may require adjustments in both cognitive strategies and relational behaviors — contextual shifts trigger recalibration across the entire system.
Core Conceptualization
McRT conceptualizes resilience as a self-sustaining system of regulation and adaptation — one that unfolds over time and across contexts through integrated, reflexively informed feedback processes.
Failure Modes & Misalignment
Within McRT, dysfunction is not conceptualized as a deficit within a single domain — it is understood as a disruption in the regulatory relationships among metacognitive, relational, and contextual systems. Misalignment across layers produces distinct patterns of maladaptation.
Strong Metacognition, Limited Relational Responsivity
Individuals may demonstrate accurate insight into their internal states while struggling to effectively engage in interpersonal regulation — potentially leading to social withdrawal or isolation despite cognitive clarity.
Strong Relational Support, Limited Metacognitive Regulation
Individuals embedded in supportive relational systems but with limited metacognitive regulation may rely heavily on external co-regulation — remaining vulnerable to emotional reactivity when interpersonal support is unavailable.
Contextual Misapplication
Strategies such as cognitive detachment or emotional suppression may be beneficial in high-demand performance environments but maladaptive in contexts requiring interpersonal openness and flexibility.
The Role of Reflexivity in Failure Recovery
Reflexivity plays a critical role in addressing these failure modes by enabling individuals and systems to detect patterns of misalignment, evaluate their consequences, and adjust strategies over time. Through reflexive engagement, individuals can move from reactive or habitual responding toward more flexible, context-sensitive regulation — restoring alignment across the system.
Interested in McRT?
McRT is an actively developing framework. Reach out to learn more, follow its development, or explore collaboration opportunities.