Schema Therapy

Schema Therapy was developed by Jeffrey Young and incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It looks at the maladaptive themes or schemas formed in early developmental experiences due to unmet emotional and/or physical needs that then gets espoused into a person’s coping responses/patterns. These maladaptive patterns tend set the individual up for a life time of self-defeating thought and emotional processes, as a result of poor environmental adaptation to life experiences around expression of emotion and physical responses.

Schema therapy is highly effective in treating personality disorders and attachment issues. It involves “limited re-parenting” in the areas of developmental deprivation and wounds. Schema therapy focuses on creating a secure attachment with the therapist who is consistently cognizant of healthy professional boundaries and integrity. This safe environment allows for relearning and re-experiencing concurrent with the ultimate goal of healthy attachment, which includes a sense of well-being, increased confidence and overall accomplishment in areas of functioning (such as self-care, work/occupation, relationships, cultural and environmental pursuits, etc.), resulting in a “Healthy Adult Mode or Schema of functioning.”