SCHEMA THERAPY

Founded by Jeffrey Young, schema therapy looks at how early maladaptive schemas or life-traps, which began during childhood and were maintained by coping strategies which may have been helpful in getting through difficult situations as a child.  However as an adult these coping strategies can be unhelpful and cause difficulties in relationships specifically in close relationships. In schema therapy this is referred to as clashing of the ‘coping modes’.

At Talk in the Bay, your schema therapist will help to understand and develop healthier coping strategies to start to heal these life-traps or schemas.  You may be asked to complete questionnaires, which together with what you tell your therapist will be used towards developing a case conceptualisation to guide you through the therapy.  In schema therapy the relationship you build with your therapist is fundamental to the success of the therapy as you learn and understand how difficulties from the past are affecting your life and discover ways to overcome these by learning healthier coping strategies to replace any unhelpful strategies.

http://www.schematherapysociety.org/Schema-Therapy

If you attend Schema Therapy for Couples we will work together to break core destructive cycles that have developed in your relationship and are blocking healthy communication from taking place. We will explore the  dynamics, linking past and present associations with each partner’s attachment strategies and schemas. Therapeutic goals are set to replace the negative cycle or mode clashing with healthier communication cycles.

You will learn to effectively restructure negative cycles,  to heal early maladaptive  schemas within the relationship and create new beliefs reinforced through new patterns of emotional connection;

You will also learn how to create safety and security through continued reinforcement of the healthy cycle and heal emotional wounds from the past as well as learn key Interventions which include core therapeutic skills for couples , mode cycle concepts/maps/;  needs vs. wants tool, mode cycle clash cards, schema dialogues, chair work, imagery.

Schema Therapy for Couples is suitable for any couple whose relationship is being negatively affected by unhealthy cycles. It is especially suited to couples where one or both partners has experienced a difficult or traumatic childhood.