# Schema Therapy rocks!



## yeah_yeah_yeah

Wow

A supergroup of rogerian, jungian, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioural therapies, its literally blowing the socks off the last remnants of my emotional problems. EVEN the biggie - women! Hurrah.

After identifying which Schemas I have, and studying the case examples and identifying with them, I have been back and found those precise moments in my life when the schemas got constructed. I have been educated as to what causes them, and how they manifest in life. I have been looking for how they pop up day after day and just noticing them. I have felt them start to grow weaker, and my happiness increase.

My schemas are / were:

Social Isolation
Defectiveness
Entitlement
Insufficient Self Control / Self Discipline
Subjugation
Mistrust and Abuse
Approval Seeking
Punitivness
Negativity / Pessimistic Outlook
Unrelenting Standards

My CBT work for SA took care of Social Isolation as it is pretty much the same. I have been working with all the others, and honestly it is like a total reordering of personality. As I was diagnosed with Dysthymia / Characterological problems, Schema has been perfect for me. CBT / Compassion based CBT alone took out the SA symptoms, but there were still depressive, life and relationship issues to contend with. These are now coming good!

Hurray for stuff! 

Ross


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## FairleighCalm

I SECOND THAT EMOTION, SCHEMA THERAPY DOES ROCK. A book called REINVENTING YOUR LIFE helped me quite a bit. The word SCHEMA itself rocks. Go Ross!


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## ardrum

I'm baffled alone by my reading and thinking about the subjugation and emotional deprivation schemas. I haven't even read about them all yet, because I'm just trying to get really deep into these. I want to understand it really well before I add more into the mix. I think at least half of them will ultimately hold strong explanatory value for my situation. In a weird way, I think these two schemas (for me) might strongly reinforce the social isolation schema.

Go schemas! Or should I say, "Death to schemas!"


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## styler5

That's good. The question is how am I supposed to find a schema therapist??


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

akstylish said:


> That's good. The question is how am I supposed to find a schema therapist??


An excellent question!

You can enquire as to your nearest schema trained therapist in the US by contacting the Cognitive Therapy Center of New York, 3 East 80th St, Penthouse, New York 10021. You can call Either 212-472-1706 (Jeffrey Young) or 516-466-8485 (Janet Klosko).

Alternatively (but not as effectively of course) you can follow the self-guided manual entitled "Reinventing Your Life" by the two people above, available from Amazon for $15.00.

Ross


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## daaaaave

Ross, just curious what you do for a living? I just wish I could read all this stuff and I guess I could make time, but it's hard if you work full time.l


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

I'm a mechanical engineer and I'm a fast and obsessive reader 

Ross


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## daaaaave

That's cool...come to think of it I would read all this stuff if I just had my own office at work lol


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Its from books, not the internet. I have about 130 of the things. Its just something I take in a lot of because it has been my goal to simply shift all the crap from past life and finally get on an even keel. SA / depression were the surface symtpoms produced by all the personality crap underneath. The schema stuff hits all of that, SA had already gone thanks to the CBT


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## daaaaave

Yes, I have to make it a priority. I at least bought the Feeling Good Handbook a few weeks ago...haven't read much yet though.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Further contact details  HERE


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## styler5

Alright. Thanx.


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## CopadoMexicano

excellent topic and interesting enough to get me motivated thanks a lot for the information yeah_yeah_yeah_.


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## shy_chick

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> As I was diagnosed with Dysthymia / Characterological problems


What does that mean? ops

I love the rabbit by the way, it makes me laugh.

I just wondered the best way to find out more-is it reading the book-or is it worth finding a therapist for a screening session to get advice on if it would help? Would that American contact be the place to look, or is there a UK one?
I am considering it as I have issues with GAD, SAD, and depression and my life just feels like it needs sorting out. I'm quite apathetic and not very motivated and have been through many therapists and 3 anti-depressants without feeling it has made much difference.


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## sad-de

What is the difference between CBT and compassion based CBT? Do you have any links for a compassion based approach?


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

shy_chick said:


> [quote="yeah_yeah_yeah":1yp3qfko]
> As I was diagnosed with Dysthymia / Characterological problems


What does that mean? ops

I love the rabbit by the way, it makes me laugh.

I just wondered the best way to find out more-is it reading the book-or is it worth finding a therapist for a screening session to get advice on if it would help? Would that American contact be the place to look, or is there a UK one?
I am considering it as I have issues with GAD, SAD, and depression and my life just feels like it needs sorting out. I'm quite apathetic and not very motivated and have been through many therapists and 3 anti-depressants without feeling it has made much difference.[/quote:1yp3qfko]

Hi Shy

I have some personality issues to be sorted. I havent got a Borederline PD diagnosis but I have a new therapist I'm seeing soon who I will discuss it with.

Re finding a therapist, its not easy. My first one was on the NHS and was pure luck. However it didnt work out - total personality clash. Then I had another CBT / compassion based therapist, and he has put me in touch with his mentor who does Schema. I tried calling the babcp to see if they could tell me, but they seem fresh out of ideas. So yeah, maybe contacting the US one for people thats have trained in it. You have to be a practicing psychotherapist with all the relevant degrees and experience to actually train in it.

Try the book - it can only help. There are short form questionnaires in it which will give you a good idea. There are only 11 of the 18 schemas in that book, but the other 7 are the less common ones.

Dysthymia is a condition (really 'chronic depression') with theorised biological roots. Its not been proven but theres an idea that goes that some people cannot generate their own happy chemicals. I am just cycnical because after being diagnosed with it, I promptly changed the therapist who diagnosed me, got a new one and was feeling great. Go figure.

Anyhoo Im here if you wanna holler


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

sad-de said:


> What is the difference between CBT and compassion based CBT? Do you have any links for a compassion based approach?


I have only done this with my therapist, and I have a pretty academic text on it thats not very accessible.

Compassion based CBT presumes that some people never developed the ability to generate their own internal ability to self soothe, due to a family environment that did not provide this. The theroy s complex and makes good sense.

You use imagery work in meditation - a compassionate image - which generates the internal sense of love and compassion for yourself. You then use the cognitive reframing in conjunction with the compassionate image so that it 'bits' at the gut level more.

Very disturbed people find it hard to generate a compassionate image at all.

Do an amazon search for books - dont know any personally.


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## shy_chick

I will contact a relationship therapist I had who tried EMDR on me. It didn't work but I've seen the two terms used together so she might know something.

What if I have one of the 7 schemas not in the book, would it still help? Talking hypothetically here. 

Could a therapist who was not neccessarily trained in it help me through the book if they read up on it? Would your new schema therapist (mentor of other one) know how to find a local one for me? Would they have to be a psychotherapist? 
I had one psychotherapy screening appointment and I ended up in tears as I had waited 18 months for therapy and just been bounced round different therapy screening sessions. I struggled to tell him that as he came across as very cold, and he just kept asking questions so he diagnosed me as being on the autism spectrum (don't agree) and I ended up finding my own therapist and giving up on the NHS.

I think I have dysthemia as have suffered with depression to some degree for about 13 years since I was a teenager.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Giving up on the NHS is what I have had to do many times. All my good therapists have been private. With regards to #winging' schema, no its not a good idea. Practitioners have to have an extensive psychological background in it - the reason being is that when you start to look at PERSONALITY issues, the relationship of the therapist and client is paramount.

Its possible for the therapist to trigger a patients schemas and keep the process stuck - in fact that is what happend so much that schema therapy needed to be developed. Similarly, the patient can trigger a therapists schema. It takes a lot of trainign and experience for the therapist to know there schemas and how to handle each patient.

if you are doing it alone, then the book cannot trigger your schemas because it is not a human being.

Your screening sounds like a shambles. I give up with the NHS when it comes to psychotherapy. Maybe the budget just isnt there, but I got the same "really, dont give a sh*t" in my experiences with them too. Could be my schemas but hey, just what I found.

Try the babcp again - things may have changed. If not do a google.co.uk search and see what it throws up. The book has 11 of the FIRST schemas that they identified, The other 7 are further refinements that can sprig off the core schemas as coping styles. Foir example, if you have a Defectiveness schema, you may overcompensate for it by becoming arrogant and entitled. Your core schema is defectiveness and you deal with it through entitlement. You would start on the most core ones first.

If you go  HERE  and copy / paste the questionnaire into Word, then fill in your responses, its possible to find out what your core schemas are. Fill it in first and then I will tell you how to interpret it.

Ross


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## shy_chick

How do I score it?


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Have you filled it in already? If you havent then I cant tell you how to score it - it could change the results. If you have I will PM you how to do it


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## shy_chick

You'll love this on an SA site....SOCIAL ISOLATION / ALIENATION came up the highest
followed by (equal)
UNRELENTING STANDARDS / HYPERCRITICALNESS
MISTRUST / ABUSE 
APPROVAL-SEEKING / RECOGNITION-SEEKING ("SU" think this is right)
I think the questionnaire only spots 16 out of 18 schema.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Su might be subjugation. Check it again.

You have what are seen as the 'thornier' schemas, the ones that tend to cause the most pain. Defo worth looking into the book.

Social Isolation should be pretty consistent for everyone here, but there will be different roots to it for most.

Yes they recently added two new sub-schemas - they are covered in the new questionnaire but I dont have that, sorry. Looks like you have the main ones though - one schema in itself is a good few months work anyway - usually more. Get cracking! Its no magic wand - it still needs application, and you will recognise elements of CBt as well as the other therapies too.

Ross


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## shy_chick

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Su might be subjugation. Check it again.
> 
> You have what are seen as the 'thornier' schemas, the ones that tend to cause the most pain.


 :banana bring it on! :roll

Tracking down the scoring from the website
SU=Social Undesirability
"Social Undesirability is no longer considered a separate Early Maladaptive Schema, even though it still appears on the Long Form. Social Undesirability is probably a subset of the Defectiveness / Shame schema." I scored very poorly on DS though. :lol

"Please note that, on both forms of the YSQ, only 15 of the current 18 Early Maladaptive Schemas are measured. This is because the listing of 18 schemas has been updated and expanded more recently than the YSQ. We do not want to alter the YSQ at this time, because so much research is already ongoing with the current versions. The three schemas that do not appear on the YSQ are: Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking, Negativity/Pessimism, and Punitiveness."
I'm sure I would be good on the pessimism one too :eyes


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## ardrum

Schemas are so fascinating to think about. I'm noticing so much about the dynamics of the motivations I have when socializing. It's unreal (well, but real).


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## shy_chick

I've bought the book and I'm looking into therapists. After some reading, I'm convinced I am high on the dependency one, which didn't really show up on the questionnaire.
I contacted a therapist off google withe schema under their name and they couldn't really help as not personal private therapists. They said:
_"Most cognitive behavioural therapists work on a schematic level, should they
be required to do so and should the person's presentation dictate the need.
In other words working with the core beliefs (or schema) can solve some of
the problems an individual faces (however not always). Schema therapy has
also been called the 3rd generation of cognitive therapy and is a form of
CBT and a development of the therapy. " _
She gave me 3 names of therapists, so looking into them. She sent me an article giving a warning about schema therapy and how it can potentially go wrong e.g. the person feeling seriously bad about their schema (mismanagement by therapist) or someone having schema but that not being the root of their current problem. It's 7 pages long and a pdf, not really sure how I could post it.
The BABCP just told me to search individual descriptions to find a therapist.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Correct. That is why most CBT therapists DO NOT do schema, despite what that guy seemed to suggest. Theoretically, the schema is one level deeper than core belief, but as core beliefs are the 'window' to it, CBT therapists could be said to be dealing with the schema.

However, a Schema Therapist MUST - be highly experienced, VERY aware of their own schemas and have a very high qualification. My CBT therapist was unqualified to do schema with me - he had to refer me on.

In fact, I HAVE had a schema disaster. My therapist before last was a battleaxe. I dunno what makde her think she should do schema with me - she had no clue about schema interaction at all. Hopefully the next one will be better.

Ross


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## shy_chick

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Correct. That is why most CBT therapists DO NOT do schema, despite what that guy seemed to suggest.


d'OH!
I bizarrely now have a free screening appointment on Monday with one of the 3 contacts who emailed back really quickly. £35ph normally so not bad pricewise. Will see how it goes.
Any tips on identifying if they are bad?! Is there a schema qualifcation/specific training she should have? She seems to do counselling/psychotherapy/cognitive/integrative therapy and is BACP registered.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

> The International Certification Program in Schema Therapy is appropriate for experienced mental health professionals from all over the world, and is open to professionals with doctoral or master's level degrees in mental health fields (or the equivalent in each country). Applicants should have intermediate or advanced levels of general psychotherapy experience; have attended at least 4 days of workshops in Schema Therapy; and have read "Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide." Additional criteria for admission are described in the detailed decription. Admission is competitive


From the website 'training' page.


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## shy_chick

I can check that, thanks. 
I got a reply from another therapist and he gave really good answers to my questions and gives evidence in court, but charges £80 per hour and is further away. £35 is definately more affordable but makes me wonder if she is any good as I could spend less but not get anywhere and it be a waste of money. She works from home so no overheads.
I'm intreged that the 3rd person on the list is the last therapist I saw, who does more practical CBT techniques/confidence building on top of her day job. £25ph half price.


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## tainted_

After reading this thread I just googled drs in Sydney who do schema therapy and found one! I emailed her so hopefully she will reply soon! I am excited. I was so turned off by my last therapy attempt (my psychiatrist was so pathetic I can't even bring myself to explain why) and now I am feeling motivated to get help again. :banana


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Hurray! Schemate the Planet!!!

My plan is working .... muha ... muhaaa .. muhahahaha ....

Muhahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

A- hooooooooooooooo.... ops


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## CoconutHolder

MUAHHHAAHHAHAH!


MUUUUUUUUUAAAAAHHHHHHHHAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA!


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Such an evil laugh for such an angelic face


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## ardrum

Schemin' for some schema world domination, eh?


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

HahahahHAAAAAAAAA yes my entitlement schema IS RUNNING RIOT!!!

Bow! Bow before ... um someone. Not me. I also have a defectiveness schema and I would get nervous :afr

Oh by the way Ardie. YOU ROCK!!! Yehhhh


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## ardrum

Yeah, I feel like a schema cocktail (on the rocks) at times. :lol


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## CoconutHolder

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Such an evil laugh for such an angelic face


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## CopadoMexicano

well at least I have the book by dr.young on "reinventing your life" and the feel good handbook eventhough the city I live in doesnt do nothing but conventional psychotherapy.


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## Phla12

Hello everyone, I've been following along and have a few questions regarding Reinventing Your Life-- do you need to have done CBT before working with this book? If not, will this book do some of the things CBT might do? Or more to the point, if I haven't done much CBT, can this book still help me socially?

[email protected]


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Schema Therapy is usually used after CBT, yes. However, this is in a clinical setting. The actual 'in therapy' application of schema is quite different to the distilled principles of the book, because the THERAPY RELATIONSHIP ITSELF forms a big part of how it works.

However, the book goes into the detail that will help you to uncover deeper, more ingrained issues that you may have picked up very early in life. 

In CBT it is sometimes observed that a person can challenge a thought, and then follow up with an experiment (the most important part), and even though they intellectually 'get' the new idea, there may be other fears and emotions attached to the feeling that keeps it from 'bedding in' at the gut level. This has a lot to do with attachment psychology (if interested, look up the work of Bowlby)- a particular stage of psychological development was missed and this leaves the person, in a way, 'stuck' at that level. So for example, a person may overcome SA symptoms, but still feel unable to make lasting and meaningful relationships for reasons NOT connected to anxiety. 

An example would be Abandonment. If you felt estranged from parents, or were left by one of them, you may have a deep fear of any kind of abandonment - be it in the form of being left or simply being rejected. This is deeper than a core belief because it tends to affect EVERY AREA of your life, as opposed to specific areas.

The book, in parts, uses CBT methods alongside powerful emotional memory focused methods, and is very clear on how to use them - BUT - schema is not designed to work with 'in moment' symptoms like CBT is. Its purpose is to break the patterns of your life that lead you into situations where you are uncared for, cannot get emotional needs met and so on. Once you break a pattern, you may find that because you now have more emotional support and better relationships, that your anxiety symptoms are reduced ...

HOWEVER

If you have an "Axis 1" disorder such as Anxiety or Depression and want to reduce the symptoms of these - THEN CBT IS YOUR FIRST PORT OF CALL. This is why Shema typically follows CBT.

Patterns may include - being attrcated to people who are critical of you, and hence reinforcing the belief you are defective. 

A woman who was abused by her father and so is atrcated to abusive men.

It is called Schema Perpetuation. Evenb though the situations you are attrcated to are bad for you, THEY FEEL FAMILIAR - and it is this that draws us to them. That is why they become a loop - a LIFETRAP.

If you want to overcome Social Anxiety symptoms, then your best place to start is Gillian Butler's "Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness". There are two versions. A single book (which has everything you need in it to proceed) and a 3 part workbook - which leads you through the process in great detail.

Available on amazon.

Gillian Butler should be paying me a fee for this. Damn her.


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## Phla12

Wow, thank you for all the information, it is certainly appreciated.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

No worries  I like to think of this all as karma


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## Phla12

I agree about karma :yes .

I was looking online and I only seemed to be able to find one version of Gillian Butler's "Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness", wasn't sure if the version I'm finding is the book itself or the workbook, and didn't want to purchase just the workbook by mistake and miss out on the information--do they go by different titles or something?

Oh and one other thing-- have you (or anyone else?) had success with this book? Just curious.

Again, thanks for your help. :thanks


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## yeah_yeah_yeah

Go for the 2007 version of the regular book.

I have had success with this book. I know of many other users that have had good success with it, and one of the mods here used at successfully as part of a group therapy. I know of people currently working through it and seeing progress. The book is prescribed on the NHS to social phobics in the UK.

Ross


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## Phla12

Cool. I shall tackle it this summer, which starts soon for me as classes are coming to an end.


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## Numbered

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Further contact details  HERE


130 West 42nd St., Suite 501, New York, NY 10036 (near Times Square)

Wait, really? I'm like around the corner.

Maybe this is a question for another thread but...

Catch 22 and stupid question - I get stymied looking for help, how does one ACTUALLY make the first call to set up something? I seem to get a bit waylaid here.


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## ardrum

Numbered said:


> yeah_yeah_yeah said:
> 
> 
> 
> Further contact details  HERE
> 
> 
> 
> 130 West 42nd St., Suite 501, New York, NY 10036 (near Times Square)
> 
> Wait, really? I'm like around the corner.
> 
> Maybe this is a question for another thread but...
> 
> Catch 22 and stupid question - I get stymied looking for help, how does one ACTUALLY make the first call to set up something? I seem to get a bit waylaid here.
Click to expand...

"Hi, I'm just calling to set up an initial appointment."

They'll take it from there and ask questions and tell you what times are available.


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## Insignificant Other

yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> Wow
> 
> A supergroup of rogerian, jungian, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioural therapies, its literally blowing the socks off the last remnants of my emotional problems. EVEN the biggie - women! Hurrah.
> 
> After identifying which Schemas I have, and studying the case examples and identifying with them, I have been back and found those precise moments in my life when the schemas got constructed. I have been educated as to what causes them, and how they manifest in life. I have been looking for how they pop up day after day and just noticing them. I have felt them start to grow weaker, and my happiness increase.
> 
> My schemas are / were:
> 
> Social Isolation
> Defectiveness
> Entitlement
> Insufficient Self Control / Self Discipline
> Subjugation
> Mistrust and Abuse
> Approval Seeking
> Punitivness
> Negativity / Pessimistic Outlook
> Unrelenting Standards
> 
> My CBT work for SA took care of Social Isolation as it is pretty much the same. I have been working with all the others, and honestly it is like a total reordering of personality. As I was diagnosed with Dysthymia / Characterological problems, Schema has been perfect for me. CBT / Compassion based CBT alone took out the SA symptoms, but there were still depressive, life and relationship issues to contend with. These are now coming good!
> 
> Hurray for stuff!
> 
> Ross


I have just begun to go to a clinic which specializes in scheme therapy, and the therapist definitely wants me to do that. But the idea of going back to the cause of anything makes my blood run cold. The concept reminds me of some really traumatizing hypnotherapy I once had.


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## Esteban

I just ordered the book. I want to be as mentally healthy as possible.


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## Insignificant Other

Does anyone know how long schema therapy takes? I know that it can take as long as a year. I also know that after about a month the therapist can estimate how long it might take. Beyond that, I'm in the dark. Does anyone know anything more precise?


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## Insignificant Other

Well I just read somewhere that it takes 2 to 3 years. This is rather discouraging, especially given that I have already had many years of psychotherapy and am 50 years old. I want to ask a question for people who are familiar with schema therapy, and I hope it doesn't sound too naive: does one have to wait 2 to 3 years to see any results at all? When do significant results first emerge? I have had a lot of psychodynamic psychotherapy with no discernible result whatsoever. I was told that I had to be patient and just keep doing it. I am seriously hoping that schema therapy is not like that. I am 50 years old, and I find it rather insulting to be told something like that. Soon, I will be dead.


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## Bluesocial

Insignificant Other said:


> Well I just read somewhere that it takes 2 to 3 years. This is rather discouraging, especially given that I have already had many years of psychotherapy and am 50 years old. I want to ask a question for people who are familiar with schema therapy, and I hope it doesn't sound too naive: does one have to wait 2 to 3 years to see any results at all? When do significant results first emerge? I have had a lot of psychodynamic psychotherapy with no discernible result whatsoever. I was told that I had to be patient and just keep doing it. I am seriously hoping that schema therapy is not like that. I am 50 years old, and I find it rather insulting to be told something like that. Soon, I will be dead.


The major research trial for schema therapy was as a treatment for borderline personality disorder. The "2 to 3 years" figure was for substantially reducing borderline personality "pathology". However, there were steady improvements on a variety of measures throughout that period. I suppose it depends on what issues you wanted to work on in therapy would signal what type of therapy would be the most appropriate. There have been no trials that I am aware of for schema therapy on social anxiety - CBT is the model of choice for SA in terms of research evidence.


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## Insignificant Other

Bluesocial said:


> The major research trial for schema therapy was as a treatment for borderline personality disorder. The "2 to 3 years" figure was for substantially reducing borderline personality "pathology". However, there were steady improvements on a variety of measures throughout that period. I suppose it depends on what issues you wanted to work on in therapy would signal what type of therapy would be the most appropriate. There have been no trials that I am aware of for schema therapy on social anxiety - CBT is the model of choice for SA in terms of research evidence.


That is interesting. I have just started going to a clinic where they really want to do schema with me.


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## Insignificant Other

I am concerned now that I won't be getting real schema therapy. I went to a clinic that specializes in schema therapy, but they assigned me to a therapist who mixes schema therapy with classical CBT. This was a big disappointment. Furthermore, she exaggerates her emotional reactions of sympathy which is so distracting I can hardly even concentrate on what I am saying. Bad acting can be very distracting! You might say "Then just request another therapist in the clinic." Perhaps I can, but I am very limited in my options, since I need a therapist who speaks English.


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## Bluesocial

Insignificant Other said:


> I am concerned now that I won't be getting real schema therapy. I went to a clinic that specializes in schema therapy, but they assigned me to a therapist who mixes schema therapy with classical CBT. This was a big disappointment. Furthermore, she exaggerates her emotional reactions of sympathy which is so distracting I can hardly even concentrate on what I am saying. Bad acting can be very distracting! You might say "Then just request another therapist in the clinic." Perhaps I can, but I am very limited in my options, since I need a therapist who speaks English.


Schema therapy uses cognitive behaviour approaches as part of the treatment so would not worry too much about the schema/cbt mix. It is an integrative model. Research shows that a good relationship with the therapist is the most influential factor in positive outcomes in therapy rather than modality. So it is important that you feel you can both work together and if not, find another therapist. However, if this is not an option then therapy is sometimes working through the difficulties with the therapist. Are you able to feedback to her that you do not feel that she is being completely genuine with her reaction?


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## Insignificant Other

Bluesocial said:


> Schema therapy uses cognitive behaviour approaches as part of the treatment so would not worry too much about the schema/cbt mix. It is an integrative model. Research shows that a good relationship with the therapist is the most influential factor in positive outcomes in therapy rather than modality. So it is important that you feel you can both work together and if not, find another therapist. However, if this is not an option then therapy is sometimes working through the difficulties with the therapist. Are you able to feedback to her that you do not feel that she is being completely genuine with her reaction?


I already gave up on her. I didn't go in to see her last week. I will try to use a book about schema therapy instead.


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## Gurjot

Everything about this therapy sounds great, once I finish Dr. Richard's book and Jon Kabat Zin's Wherever you go there you are and if they don't help me I'll move on to this for sure.


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## Insignificant Other

I have been reading a book about schema therapy: Breaking Negative Thinking Patterns. What seems to set it apart from psychodynamic psychotherapy is that it provides frameworks for understanding one's childhood and suggestions for correcting its influence. In classic psychoanalysis, which I had, one simply free associates about one's early childhood. But there is no framework for understanding anything, no suggestions about what to do with these memories. The implication seems to be "Figure it out yourself, loser." I for one never could. This seems better, but I haven't read too much of it yet, and I'm not completely sure where it is going. (I do not have a schema therapist. I am winging it.)


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## slowlyimproving

*Worth Checking Out*



yeah_yeah_yeah said:


> An excellent question!
> 
> You can enquire as to your nearest schema trained therapist in the US by contacting the Cognitive Therapy Center of New York, 3 East 80th St, Penthouse, New York 10021. You can call Either 212-472-1706 (Jeffrey Young) or 516-466-8485 (Janet Klosko).
> 
> Alternatively (but not as effectively of course) you can follow the self-guided manual entitled "Reinventing Your Life" by the two people above, available from Amazon for $15.00.
> 
> Ross


I will add it to my reading list! I found a link of the book on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Your-Life-Breakthrough-Negative/dp/0452272041


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## Insignificant Other

slowlyimproving said:


> I will add it to my reading list! I found a link of the book on amazon.
> http://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Your-Life-Breakthrough-Negative/dp/0452272041


I have been reading this one: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Nega...8331&sr=1-1&keywords=schema+negative+thinking

I am not implying that one is better than the other. I have no idea.


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## slowlyimproving

Insignificant Other said:


> I have been reading this one: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Nega...8331&sr=1-1&keywords=schema+negative+thinking
> 
> I am not implying that one is better than the other. I have no idea.


Thanks! If the book helps you, please let us know.


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## Insignificant Other

The local schema therapy clinic assigned me to a therapist whom I did not like, and there don't seem to be any other options. (Because of a language barrier.) So I have had another idea. I will read a book about schema therapy and try to follow the advice. I will then speak with a psychodynamic psychotherapist about changing my schemas. This is because schema therapy, while usually categorized as CBT, really seems more psychodynamic to me.


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## Insignificant Other

slowlyimproving said:


> Thanks! If the book helps you, please let us know.


I am having some trouble with the book by Gitta Jacob. I am supposed to enter a meditative state and relive some happy memory from my past, most likely my childhood. This is difficult for me, because there aren't many happy memories. And even if I can think of something happy in my adulthood, it was usually shortly before something terrible happened. These exercises are difficult. The problem is that I have always been depressed, and don't really have happy memories, other than relatively fleeting experiences.


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## slowlyimproving

Insignificant Other said:


> I am having some trouble with the book by Gitta Jacob. I am supposed to enter a meditative state and relive some happy memory from my past, most likely my childhood. This is difficult for me, because there aren't many happy memories. And even if I can think of something happy in my adulthood, it was usually shortly before something terrible happened. These exercises are difficult. The problem is that I have always been depressed, and don't really have happy memories, other than relatively fleeting experiences.


Hmmmm.......Maybe think about something that makes you happy, and focus on that?


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## Insignificant Other

slowlyimproving said:


> Hmmmm.......Maybe think about something that makes you happy, and focus on that?


I have to. I know. But the book is inadvertently triggering some bad memories. For example, thinking about a teddy bear is supposed to be comforting. For me, it isn't, because I have a bad memory involving a teddy bear. But you are right, of course, that I have to find memories of something else to focus on.


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