Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapy treatment that you may have been referred for specifically. The focus is on healing problematic thought and emotional and behavioural patterns that often operate outside of our conscious awareness, known clinically as ‘Early Maladaptive Schemas:
Early - because these schemas are generally imprinted through early life experiences and in response to key needs being unmeet during development.
Maladaptive - because these schemas have a negative impact on our lives, well-being and relationships. They are self-defeating.
Schemas - because they are a model or pattern for the way we operate in the world.
In therapy, we work together to identify these schemas and the often problematic ways one may have learned to cope with them. Coping modes, or psychological defences, serve many functions, yet they often contribute our suffering, and in the therapy, we will work to reduce the rigidity of these while restructuring underlying schemas through a collaborative and empathetic process, often fostering profound and lasting change.
Braden Vernon
Psychotherapist, MACA
Schema therapy focuses more broadly on standard processes that cause psychological distress (e.g fears of abandonment, avoidance, emotional detachment, interpersonal challanges etc,) as opposed to specific symptoms; however, schema therapy has shown to be effective in addressing enduring distressing issues and is a practical approach for:
- Childhood Trauma
- Personality Disorders
- Depression
- Anxiety
- PTSD / CPTSD
- Problematic / Compulsive Behaviours