What is Schema Therapy?
Schema therapy is an innovative psychotherapy developed by Dr. Jeffrey Young for personality disorders, chronic depression, and other difficult individual and couples problems.
Schema therapy integrates elements of cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, object relations, and gestalt therapy into one unified, systematic approach to treatment.
What is a Schema?
A Schema is an extremely stable, enduring negative pattern that develops during childhood or adolescence and is elaborated throughout an individual’s life. We view the world through our schemas. Schemas are important beliefs and feelings about oneself and the environment, which the individual accepts without question. They are self- perpetuating, and are very resistant to change. For instance, children who develop a schema that they are incompetent rarely challenge this belief, even as adults. The schema usually does not go away without therapy. Overwhelming success in people’s lives is often still not enough to change the schema.
Schemas can impact our relationships, our self-esteem and the way we cope with stress in a negative and self-defeating way.
Schema therapy looks mainly at healing these unhelpful schemas but understanding how they developed, how they impact life today and maintain current problems and symptoms.
