Author: Alessandro Pelliccioni, psychologist and brief therapist
Schema therapy is a new model for psychotherapy developed, during the 90’s, by J. Young. This form of therapy is deeply rooted in cognitive therapy, attachment theory and other traditional integrative techniques. After collecting a large amount of data studying his own patients, Young noticed that patients with the same way of thinking or of behaving, would develop quite similar problems. He proceeded to map these harmful behavioral patterns and collected as many as eighteen. They go under the names of schemas or life traps.
Life traps drive us, for example, to conform, to submit or make unwanted sacrifices in close relationships or challenging social situations. Depending on the person, schemas may compel oneself to be a perfectionist or to continuously avoid challenges, they may cause us to hide our feelings and avoid bringing up problems. Defusing life traps requires work and determination to deal with one’s own problems. When one’s schemas are opened, we figure out what kind of life we want to live and how we can achieve it. Likewise, we are able to be better present to ourselves and our loved ones.
Schemas, or life traps, are ways of interpreting the environment or ways of behaving in the company of other people, which we have learned in early childhood or adolescence, if our needs then have not been met. The development of life trap does not require a serious trauma. It is enough, for example, that one of the parents was distant when a small child needed affection, or if a child couldn’t express her needs and desires freely, cause they were not accepted by the family for some reason.
For a young child, the need to develop what will result in harmful behavior, was a mean of survival; behaving in a way that was accepted by the family, would give her the feeling that her parents would not abandon her. However, in adulthood, these automated patterns of behavior are harmful. Schemas are automatically activated when we experience strong emotional situations. Because of them, for example, we interpret the environment only negatively, which leads to a pessimistic picture of the world, or we go on repeating the same old patterns in our relationships and sabotage the opportunities for a fulfilling relationship.
Three examples:
I’m unworthy.
A feeling of inadequacy is the experience of being flawed, inferior, or unworthy, which prevents others from truly loving you. These feelings are often associated with feeling of shame that would come from the disclosure of one's own shortcomings. It's hard for someone, who lives with a constant of inadequacy, to accept positive feedback from others, because deep down they believe they didn't deserve it.
My mission is to attend to the needs of others.
The attitude of self-sacrifice leads a person to willingly comply with the wishes and needs of others. She sacrifices herself so that she doesn't have to feel guilty for not paying enough attention to others. By means of sacrifice, a person can achieve a sense of self-worth or maintain a connection with another person who seems to need her. The victim neglects her own needs, and the constant consideration of others arouses bitterness, frustration and anger, which the victim cannot express openly.
I am not enough.
The life trap named Defectiveness manifests itself as an effort to perform according to demanding standards, usually to avoid shame or disapproval. The life trap causes constant pressure and over-criticism towards oneself and /or others. It adversely affects health, self-esteem, relationships and experiences of pleasure. This schema manifests itself as compulsory perfectionism, the need to do everything "right", excessive attachment to details or underestimation of one's own performance, or rigid rules and an emphasis on efficiency.
The schemas are identified with the help of a questionnaire test and their background is outlined from childhood and adolescence. This is how one learns to identify her harmful coping mechanisms and understand how they reinforce her own schemas. The therapist and patient together create a schema conceptualization model, after which the focus is on a therapy plan that includes cognitive and behavioral methods.
As long as a person believes in the correctness of the schemas, she is unable to change. First, it is possible to recognize the presence of a schema on the level of reason and logic, after that one has to struggle with the effects of the schemas on the emotional level, until one is able to meet the schema face to face in real life and act against it. Then new behavior models can be designed to replace the old automated and harmful models. More constructive choices can be used to create a more functional and satisfying life.
I learned about schema therapy during my training as a brief therapist, I was impressed by how easy it is for the client to understand and see one's own harmful coping mechanisms and therefor quickly benefit from therapy. If you search online for life traps tests or schema therapy tests, you will find many partial and unofficial versions. If you want to find out your own schemas, make an appointment.
Author: Alessandro Pelliccioni, psychologist and brief therapist
"I am originally from Italy, and I have been living in Finland for over twenty years. I am a psychologist and a brief therapist (Integrum Institute, cognitive integrative approach). You can come to my reception with a low threshold. No problem is too insignificant or small to be worthy of treatment. You can come to my reception as your true self."
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