1. SCHEMA THERAPY
: Anagha Augustine

2. Schema:
Schema describes both mental and physical actions
involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are
knowledge that help us to interpret the world.
Young’s Definition of Schema:
Young (1990) hypothesized that some of these schemas-
especially schemas that develop primarily as a result of
toxic childhood experiences; might be at the core of
personality disorders milder characterological problems
and may cause chronic Axis 1 Disorders.

3. To explore this idea, he defined a subset of schemas which
he labelled as Early maladaptive Schemas. Revised and
comprehensive definition of an Early maladaptive schema
is:
 A broad, pervasive theme or pattern
 Comprised of memories, emotions, cognitions,
and bodily sensations
 Regarding oneself and one’s relationships with
others
 Developed during childhood or adolescence
 Elaborated throughout one’s lifetime and
 Dysfunctional to a significant degree

4. Core needs of the child:
 A mature and healthy individual is one who can
adaptively meet their core emotional needs in
themselves
 The interaction with parents frustrates the child
temperament when these basic need are not gratifying to
him. The child adapts and a trap is created

5. Parents & Life Traps..
Critical >>
Defectiveness
Overprotective >>
Dependence
Cold >> Emotional-
Deprivation
Controlling >>
Subjugation
Indulgent >>
Entitlement

6. Early maladaptive Schemas..
EMS serve as templates for the processing of data
experiences and have certain core characteristics:
 They have unconditional rigid beliefs and feelings
about oneself, and the world that the individual never
challenges
 They form the core of the individual’s sense of self
 They are self perpetuating and resistant to change
 They operate outside individual’s conscious
awareness

7. 5 Schema Domains:
1. Disconnection and Rejection: The lack of secure
attachment
 Abandonment/ Instability
 Mistrust/ Abuse
 Emotional Deprivation
• Deprivation of nurturance
• Deprivation of empathy
• Deprivation of protection
 Defectiveness/ Shame
 Social Isolation/ Alienation
2. Impaired autonomy and performance: The lack of
competence or a sense of identity
Dependence/ Incompetence
 Vulnerability to harm or illness
 Enmeshement/ Undeveloped of self
 Failure

8. 3. Impaired limits: The lack of freedom to express valid
needs and emotions
 Entitlement / grandiosity
 Insufficient self control / self discipline
4. Other directedness: The loss of spontaneity and play
Subjugation
• Subjugation of needs
• Subjugation of emotion
Self-sacrifice
Approval seeking / Recognition speaking
5. Over vigilance and inhibition: The loss of realistic limits
and self control
Negativity /pessimism
Emotional Inhibition
Unrelenting standards / Hyper criticalness
Punitiveness

9. Schema Coping Styles
Broad maladaptive schema coping styles
1. Surrender
2. Avoidance
3. Overcompensation

10. 1. Schema Surrender:
• Schema surrender refers to ways in which people
passively give in to the schema. They accept the schema
as truth and then act in ways that confirm the schema
• For instance, a young man with an
Abandonment/Instability schema might choose partners
who are unable to commit to long-term relationships. He
might then react to even minor signs, indications of
abandonment, such as spending short times without his
partner, in an exaggerated way and feel excessive negative
emotion. Despite the emotional pain of the situation, he
might also passively remain in the relationship because he
sees no other possible way to connect with women.

11. 2. Avoidance Coping styles:
• Schema avoidance refers to the ways in which people
avoid activating schemas, when schemas are activated,
they cause extreme negative emotion and pain.
• There are three types of schema avoidance: cognitive,
emotional and behavioral.
• Cognitive avoidance refers to efforts that people make
not to think about upsetting events.
• Emotional avoidance refers to automatic or voluntary
attempts to block painful emotion
• In Behavioral avoidance People often act in such a way
as to avoid situations that trigger schemas, and thus
avoid psychological pain.

12. 3. Over compensation coping styles:
The individual behaves in a manner which appears to be
the opposite of what the schema suggests in order to
avoid triggering the schema. On the surface, it may
appear that the over compensators are behaving in a
healthy manner, by standing up for themselves. But
when they overshoot the mark they cause more problem
patterns, which then perpetuate the schema.

13. Schema Therapy: Therapists /clients
1. Healing the vulnerable child:
Human beings are born vulnerable and completely unable to
help themselves. This method involves working with
vulnerable child, empathizing with him/her and symbolically
providing ways in which he/she can have these needs met that
were not met in the past
2. Reducing the power of dysfunctional coping and parent
modes:
Coping modes prevent access to the child modes which are
the source of spontaneity, authenticity and the capacity for
meaningful interpersonal contact. They also create additional
problems by giving rise to self- limiting, self-defeating, and
self destructive behaviors.

14. 3. Reducing the power of dysfunctional coping:
Dysfunctional parent modes are also problematic. At
the outset, they might appear to help to motivate you to
get things done. But, on closer inspection, they have the
opposite effect. A critical voice that constantly repeats
demeaning messages and undermines your self esteem
makes it difficult to enjoy everyday activities and
relationships. A demanding voice that keeps imposing
rigid standards in the form of rules creates chronic
tension and dissatisfaction. Both these voices can
activate an angry or rebellious child mode that refuses to
be pushed around, resulting in procrastination or a lack
of motivation.

15. 4. Building the healthy adult:
Building self-awareness and cultivating mindfulness: To
stay balanced we need to have an ongoing awareness of
our emotional states and how they are activated in
different situations. At the same time we need to be able
to distance from these states like an observer who can
see and not what they are without getting caught up in
them and carried away.
Building an understanding of how EMSs and schema
modes work:
This will help you step back and see clearly what you
need to do to break out of the patterns, and how the
various aspects of schema therapy can contribute to
empowering you to do this

16. Techniques
Techniques for tackling
schemas can be broken
down into four categories:
 Emotive
 Interpersonal
 Cognitive
 Behavioral

17.  Emotive Technique:
Emotive techniques encourage clients to experience and
express the emotional aspects of their problem. One
way this is done by having clients close their eyes and
imagine they are having a convention with the person to
whom the emotion is directed. They are then
encouraged to express the emotions as completely as
possible in the imaginary dialogue.

18. Case:
One woman whose core schema was emotional
deprivation had several such sessions in which she had
an opportunity to express her anger at her parents for not
being these enough for her emotionally. Each time she
expressed these feelings, she was able to distance herself
further from the schema. She was able to see that her
parents had their own problems which kept them from
providing her with adequate nurturance, and that she was
not always designed to be deprived. Or they may write a
letter to the other person, which they have no intention of
mailing, so that they can express their feelings without
inhibition.

19.  Interpersonal Technique:
• Interpersonal techniques highlight the client’s
interactions with other people so that the role of the
schemas can be exposed. One way is by focusing on
the relationship with the therapist
• Frequently, clients with a subjugation schema go along
with everything the therapist wants, even when they do
not consider the assignment or activity relevant
• They then feel resentment towards the therapist which
they display indirectly
• This pattern of compliance and indirect expression of
resentment can then be explored to the client’s benefit

20.  Cognitive Technique:
• Cognitive techniques are those in which the schema-
driven cognitive distortions are challenged. As in short-
term cognitive therapy. The dysfunctional thoughts are
identified and the evidence for and against them is
considered. Then new thoughts an beliefs are
substituted. These techniques help the client see
alternative ways to view situations.
• The first step in dealing with schemas cognitively is to
examine the evidence for and against the specific
schema which is being examined

21.  Behavioral Technique:
• Behavioural techniques are those which the therapist
assists the client in changing long-term behaviour
patterns. So that schema surrender behaviours are reduced
and healthy coping responses are strengthened.
• One behavioural strategy is to help clients choose partners
who are appropriate for them and capable of engaging in
healthy relationships. Clients with emotional deprivation
schema tend to choose partners who are not emotionally
giving. A therapist working with such clients would help
them through the process of evaluating and selecting new
partners.
• Another behavioural technique consist of teaching clients
better communication skills.

22. Summary..
• Life traps are un healthy beliefs that served as
adaptations to early painful circumstances in
childhood. These mental traps were created when
emotional core needs were not met appropriately
• A life trap consists of memories, emotions, cognitions
and bodily sensations. These are formed so early in
life that they are taken as accurate and truthful ways of
seeing oneself and the world.

23. • Once a trap is formed a coping style is also created to
avoid experiencing the emotional pain inside the trap.
• The coping styles are many and eventually they group
into the familiar sense of self a person identifies with.
• These include all familiar thoughts, emotions,
behaviors, kinds of people and circumstances that they
know how to deal with.

24. • The aim of therapy is first of all to introduce
psychological awareness of the traps and the coping
styles.
• Then add an elaborate understanding of the history
that created the trap and the development of attention
and observation skills.

25. References..
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2006).
Schema Therapy: A practitioner’s Guide. Guilford
Press