The Core Emotion Framework (CEF): A Structural-Constructivist Model for Emotional Regulation and Adaptive Resilience in the Treatment of Anxiety

Anxiety and related distress disorders necessitate mechanism-targeted interventions. This report introduces the Core Emotion Framework (CEF), a novel structural-constructivist model providing a systematic taxonomy of emotional regulation deficits. The CEF posits that the human psyche operates through ten foundational "primers" organized across three functional centers: Cognition (Head), Feeling (Heart), and Action (Gut). Anxiety is modeled as a state of emotional rigidity resulting from the maladaptive entanglement of opposing primers, specifically a failure to flexibly balance Boosting(diligence/action) and Accepting (adaptation/surrender). The framework establishes structural equivalence between its primers and established evidence-based practices, linking Calculating to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)'s restructuring, Sensing to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)'s bilateral stimulation, and Accepting to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)'s psychological flexibility principle. Pending empirical validation, the CEF is proposed for use in three capacities: as a comprehensive standalone intervention, an integrative guide, or a meta-therapeutic indexing tool to systematically match patient deficits to the optimal evidence-based modality, thereby advancing personalized treatment selection.