The Schema Therapy model, developed by Jeffrey Young, focuses on the discovery and change of early experiences and their reflections in adulthood.
The approach, which set out with the target of difficult cases resistant to change or the field of personality disorders, has started to be applied in other psychological problem areas, as well as in different problems such as individual, group and couple therapies. Research over the past decade has begun to provide remarkable evidence for the effectiveness of the approach.
Schema therapy practitioners and researchers came together in Sweden in 2006 and established the International Society for Schema Therapy (ISST) under the honorary presidency of J.Young. In addition to the development of the schema therapy model and the dissemination of schema-focused research, the international standardization of schema therapy certification programs started with the initiative of this association.
The information after this section is taken from semaoterapi.org site.
Schema Actions
Schemas are necessary structures for the survival of the organism. Therefore, functional schemas have some behaviors that continue to exist. Questioning the accuracy of a single schema affects the entire system, even if it has discordant consequences with the environment. Therefore, in situations that threaten the validity of the schema, the schema takes various actions to protect itself. Three schema actions have been identified so far: Surrender, Avoid, Overcompensate. These processes then develop into maladaptive coping methods that reinforce the schema. These actions promote adaptation in childhood and are synonymous with the psychoanalytic terms resistance and defense mechanisms.
Schema Submission
Schema Submission involves intellectual, behavioral, or emotional strategies that reinforce or perpetuate the schema (eg, exaggerating information supporting the schema, engaging in schema-compliant behavior). As an example, we can show that a person with the Imperfection schema is able to maintain relationships with critical friends. The imperfection schema enables the person to endure the criticism that comes to him. And receiving criticism reinforces the belief that one is flawed.
Schema Avoidance
Cognitive, behavioral, and emotional strategies that a person puts into practice to avoid initiating the schema and associated emotions. The person avoids thinking about the schema or encountering related situations. For example, a person with a Failure schema may avoid working on his project because he believes it will ultimately be considered “bad”. And thus, it increases the chance of encountering a negative evaluation. This again serves to strengthen the schema (Self-fulfilling prophecy).
Schema Compensation
Behaviors and cognitions that the person puts into practice to overcompensate for the schema; they emerge as the opposite of what might be expected from the schema. Schema Remedies are functional interventions that the child develops in the early stages to cope with the pain caused by the bad behavior of parents, siblings, and peers. In adulthood and in healthier settings, Schema Compensatory behaviors become disruptive to functioning and often lead to “good-intentioned bad consequences”. Overcompensations ultimately cause the opposite of what was intended and help maintain the schema. For example, a person with the Emotional Deprivation schema may need an excessive amount of attention, but in their daily life they may deliberately distance themselves from other people, resulting in them feeling even more lonely.
