Schema Therapy

Schema therapy is a powerful means of change for those struggling with long-standing difficulties, often originating in childhood. 

The therapy draws attention to the role of meeting our needs in an healthy and balanced life; the need for connection and validation, being able to be independent, to be capable, to play and have fun, and to have boundaries and limits. In the long-term, unmet needs or traumatic experiences can lead to the development of schemas.  

Schemas are powerful beliefs that affect how we see ourselves and the world around us. The schemas that we address in therapy are usually painful, and we often fall into coping with them in a way that keeps the schema in place. 

For example, a child whose parent is very inconsistently available for them might develop an ‘abandonment’ schema, leading to an ongoing fear in adulthood that others might suddenly leave them. They might develop a coping style of avoidance to deal with that fear, staying away from close relationships to ensure they are never hurt. Alternatively they might cope through overcompensation, always leaving partners before they risk getting left themselves. While both ways of coping are understandable, they both leave the schema in place and get in the way of healthy relationships. 

The process of schema therapy if one of identifying and healing schemas, learning to avoid stepping into unhelpful coping styles and meeting our underlying needs in a healthy way. Schema therapy uses techniques from CBT but has more emphasis on the relationship between the therapist and client. It also uses the powerful techniques of chairwork and memory work to bring about change on a deeper level. 

Book a free 20 minute phone consultation