Support and counselling for Gosford and other Central Coast residents

Schema Therapy (also known as Schema-Focused Therapy or Schema-Focused Cognitive Therapy) focuses on a person’s history, especially their family of origin, to better understand the experiences that possibly lead to current behaviour and thinking patterns. Schema Therapy is designed to help break negative thinking, feeling, and behaviour patterns and develop healthier alternatives, like updating an old map you were given years and years ago.

WHAT DOES SCHEMA THERAPY LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE?

Schemas are beliefs and feelings about yourself, others, and the world that can sometimes get in the way of living the way you would prefer. Unhelpful schemas are self-perpetuating, long-standing and often resistant to change. For instance, a child who develops the schema “I’m not good at doing new things” may maintain that idea through adulthood unless challenged. We adapt our behaviour to fit or accommodate the schema retroactively. That way, the schema is perpetuated largely because we avoid activities that might challenge the schema. Subconsciously accepting your schemas, repeatedly blocking or escaping painful thoughts and fighting back by overcompensating for painful beliefs all serve only to perpetuate maladaptive schemas.

Schema Therapy consists of three stages:

An assessment phase in which general schemas are explored to identify the schemas you most often operate under.

An emotional awareness and experiential phase is where you explore your dominant schemas and learn how to spot them when they affect your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour so that they no longer automatically change your attitudes, thoughts, and behaviours.

A behavioural change stage involves consciously and proactively replacing negative, habitual thoughts and behaviours with new, healthier thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Schema Therapy is not a short-term therapy. It works on changing your thoughts about yourself, others, and the world since childhood. Changing life-long patterns takes considerable commitment, effort, and practice but can undoubtedly allow you to be the best version of yourself.

WHAT ISSUES IS SCHEMA THERAPY BEST AT ADDRESSING?

Schema Therapy is typically used for lifelong patterns that cause difficulty or when no other therapy techniques or approaches have helped. It can also be used to treat chronic depression, personality disorders and other psychological issues.