Purpose & Context
Anna developed TEG-Blue (The Emotional Gradient Blueprint) over nearly two years of independent research, drawing on a lifetime of observing patterns in human behavior, systems thinking, personal experience, and cross-disciplinary reading.
TEG-Blue is organized in two layers. The measurement system — the Four-Mode Gradient (Connection → Protection → Control → Domination) — measures nervous system regulatory states that can be detected in natural language. The explanatory architecture — the 12 Frameworks — explains why these modes exist, how patterns scale into social structures, where protection tips into domination, and what makes change possible.
The framework draws on 139+ established theories across neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and trauma studies. The originality is not in the individual theories — it is in the connections between them. These research traditions developed independently, within separate disciplines, often without reference to each other. TEG-Blue proposes specific cross-disciplinary connections that do not exist in any of the source theories.
The focus throughout has been helping people navigate emotional states without judgment while understanding the protective functions of all emotions.
Current State
Anna has published her validation study "Detecting Regulatory States in Natural Language" on Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18428907). The study analyzed over 10,000 natural conflict narratives and found that:
- All four regulatory modes were successfully detected using polyvagal markers, contempt markers, and moral disengagement markers
- 33.8% of individuals escalated toward Control/Domination when challenged
- 22.2% de-escalated toward Connection
- De-escalators showed 78% higher rates of complexity markers than escalators
The theoretical foundations, open research questions, and collaboration opportunities are documented on the open science platform at teg-blue.org.
Anna has established her research identity with ORCID 0009-0005-2394-7162.
Key Learnings & Principles
The framework's distinctive contribution lies in positioning emotional states on a continuous gradient rather than discrete categories, with the insight that all emotions serve protective or connective functions. The "orientation-not-diagnosis" philosophy treats emotional states as information rather than pathology.
The core testable claim: The key variable that predicts relational and behavioral outcomes is not a person's current regulatory state, but their capacity to return to Connection when challenged. This capacity is measurable. It shows up in language. And it appears to be predicted by specific linguistic markers called complexity markers — signs of self-awareness, perspective-taking, and emotional differentiation.
The validation research confirmed this: de-escalators showed 78% higher rates of complexity markers than escalators, suggesting that the capacity to return to Connection — not the absence of protective states — is what matters most.
Approach & Methodology
Anna works through iterative design and testing, moving from theoretical frameworks to practical applications. She emphasizes interactive, colorful, non-judgmental, grounding, honest, simple, and kind design approaches for user-facing tools.
How the architecture was developed: The integrative architecture — the 12 frameworks and the connections between them — emerged through building each framework to explain patterns Anna had lived through and witnessed. The Four-Mode Gradient was not designed first and then explained; it became visible when the pieces were placed together.
How the literature mapping was created: Once the architecture was established, AI research tools (Claude, ChatGPT Deep Research) were used to systematically identify which established theories and researchers align with each framework's propositions. The architecture determined the connections. The AI tools helped locate and organize the corresponding academic literature.
The theoretical mapping is a working hypothesis — a starting point for deeper scholarly validation. Human researchers are needed to verify accuracy, correct errors, and deepen the analysis. Researchers interested in contributing can find open questions at teg-blue.org/research-entry.
How It Began
Anna's background is in visual communications. For 25 years, she worked transforming complex concepts into easy-to-digest visuals that anyone could understand.
After leaving an abusive relationship, her life collapsed. In the aftermath, she needed to understand the whys and the hows — how she had ended up in that place, and what the patterns were that she hadn't been able to see.
She began studying. Polyvagal theory. Attachment research. Trauma. Narcissism. Family systems. Cognitive dissonance. The science was there, but scattered across disciplines, written in specialist language, disconnected from each other.
So she did what she had always done: she started putting it into visual form. Connecting dots across fields. Translating research into structures that made sense of what had happened — not just to her, but to the people around her.
The first piece was the Emotional Hurt Gradient Scale — a tool to explain that the pain others felt wasn't caused by her, but by their own difficulty processing emotions like envy or shame. From there, each framework emerged to answer a specific question. Why do people build protective identities? How do families transmit rules? How does protection escalate into control?
The Four-Mode Gradient was not designed first and then explained. It emerged through building each Framework, one by one, to explain patterns she had lived through and witnessed. When the pieces were placed together, the gradient became visible.