Schema Therapy in Northwich, Cheshire

Schema Therapy is a form of therapy that helps people understand long-standing emotional patterns that often develop in early life. I offer Schema Therapy in Cheshire for adults who experience anxiety, strong self-criticism, low self-esteem, or feel stuck in repeated patterns that affect their wellbeing and relationships.

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Understanding the patterns that keep repeating

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Sometimes you can understand your difficulties logically but still find yourself reacting in exactly the same way.

You might know that you are not a failure, yet still feel deeply inadequate. You might know that you don't have to please everyone, yet find yourself automatically putting other people's needs before your own. You might recognise that a relationship isn't meeting your needs, but feel terrified of being alone or unable to walk away.

You may even have had therapy before and gained a much better understanding of yourself, but still feel as though something deeper hasn't changed.

This is where Schema Therapy can be particularly helpful.

Schema Therapy looks beneath the immediate symptoms and explores the deeper emotional patterns that have developed over time. It helps us understand why you respond to situations in the way you do, where these patterns came from, and what keeps them going in your life now.

As an ISST Advanced Accredited Schema Therapist, I offer Schema Therapy in Northwich, Cheshire and online across the UK.

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What is Schema Therapy?

 

Schema Therapy was developed by psychologist Jeffrey Young and brings together ideas from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, attachment theory, experiential therapies and other psychological approaches.

At its heart, Schema Therapy is about understanding the deep emotional patterns we develop when our important emotional needs have not been consistently met.

As children, we have fundamental emotional needs. We need to feel safe, loved, understood, accepted and valued. We need appropriate boundaries, encouragement to become independent, opportunities to express our emotions, and the freedom to develop our own identity.

When these needs are repeatedly unmet, we can develop what Schema Therapy calls early maladaptive schemas.

Schemas are deeply held patterns or beliefs about ourselves, other people and the world.

They can influence how we interpret situations, how we feel, how we behave and the relationships we choose.

For example, someone who experienced rejection, criticism or emotional neglect may develop a schema of Defectiveness/Shame and carry a deep sense that there is something wrong with them.

Someone who experienced inconsistency, loss or unreliable care may develop Abandonment, leading them to become highly sensitive to signs that somebody might leave, reject or replace them.

Someone who learned that their needs were less important than everybody else's may develop Self-Sacrifice or Subjugation, becoming extremely focused on keeping other people happy while losing touch with what they themselves need.

These patterns often make sense in the context of what we have experienced.

The problem is that they can continue long after the original circumstances have changed.

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