Who can benefit from Schema Therapy?
Most people can benefit from Schema Therapy because we all have some degree of difficulty in our life which is linked to a schema. Everyone has schemas. Have you ever wondered why your emotional buttons get pushed, or why you seem to push other people’s buttons? Have you met people that really trigger a powerful emotional response in you? The answer is tied up in understanding your schemas, what they are, where they came from, and what or who triggers them. So gaining some insight around your schemas at an intellectual level firstly is helpful so you can have a framework for understanding your issues or problems. An experienced schema therapist will help you formulate your issues in a different way. Alternative explanations for why you do the things you do can be offered by schema therapy. Quite frankly, it is often the case that schema therapy is able to conceptualise your issues in new meaningful ways which differ significantly from previous therapies you might have tried. Schema therapy offers many people new hope when they have been previously told that they are beyond help or somehow ‘treatment-resistant’.
When schemas and/or modes are very strong and go uncheck or unchanged for a long time they become factors which play a very real role in the cause of emotional/psychological health problems like depression. By modifying your schemas, you can greatly reduce your vulnerability to future depression, clinical anxiety and other psychological disorders. In particular, schema therapy is very useful for anyone with recurrent or long-standing mental health or psychological difficulties. Things like, multiple episodes or recurrent depression; depression which is difficult to shift; reoccurring negative events or persistent low self-esteem. It’s also very helpful for people with problematic romantic or family relationships and for people whose own personality styles tends to interfere with their well-being, relationships and general functioning. Good examples of problems which are driven by schemas include: being a self-sacrificer who can’t say “no” and becoming depressed or ill as a result; being attracted to ‘unavailable’ partners over and over again; expecting or anticipating that others will have control over you and carrying a lot of anger internally; expecting yourself to be perfect and not feeling good enough; feeling inferior to others; feeling inadequate and not able to stand on your own two feet; expecting loved ones to leave or disappoint you; being unable to trust other people; having volatile or difficult relationships or avoiding romantic relationships all together .
If you have noticed any type of recurring and unhelpful ‘pattern’ in your life, in relation to your mental health, work relationships or friendships, romantic relationships, stressful family dynamics or decisions you have made, then schema therapy is probably the best therapy for you! If you suffer from recurrent episodes of depression or if you have been told that you have ‘treatment resistant’ depression, then schema therapy is likely to help you in a way that other treatments have been unable to. If you have been told that you have Bipolar II disorder, problems with emotional regulation, urges to self-harm, or issues of addiction, then a dedicated attempt at schema therapy is likely to really help you.
Gemma Gladstone