Coping Styles And Responses (Schema Therapy)

A brief introduction to schema therapy

Schema therapy is an integrative therapy initially developed for treating complex, longstanding, and diffuse psychological difficulties. It combines cognitive behavioral, attachment, gestalt, object relations, constructivist, psychoanalytic, and neurobiological approaches within a unifying conceptual model (Young, 1990, 1999; Young et al., 2003).

Additional interventions have since been outlined, such as EMDR (Young et al., 2002), mindfulness (van Vreeswijk et al., 2014), and body-focused methods (Briedis & Startup, 2020). Schema therapy expands on CBT by emphasizing the developmental origins of psychological problems, incorporating relational and experiential interventions, and targeting the maladaptive coping styles that perpetuate these difficulties (Young et al., 2003).

Early maladaptive schemas

EMS are defined as negative, pervasive themes or patterns regarding oneself and one’s relationship with others that are dysfunctional and self-defeating. Structurally, EMS are believed to consist of thoughts, memories, emotions, bodily sensations, and the meanings ascribed to them (Van Genderen et

"Schemas are painful. For this reason, people develop ways of managing them, although they might not be aware of their ‘style’ of coping. Coping with a schema might include obvious actions, like avoiding particular situations or types of people, or more subtle things that take place in your mind, like agreeing with your self-critical thoughts. Can we explore how you tend to cope with your schema?"

This handout provides a general explanation of the ways people might cope with an early maladaptive schema. It can be used to introduce a discussion about the client’s own coping styles or responses to EMS.

• "Can you relate to idea of avoiding, counter-attacking, or surrendering to your schema?"
• "Which coping style do you tend to use? Is there one you identify the most with?"
• "When you were young, what did your parents do when they were upset or experienced problems? Do you respond

• Arntz, A., Rijkeboer, M., Chan, E., Fassbinder, E., Karaosmanoglu, A., Lee, C. W., & Panzeri, M. (2021). Towards a reformulated theory underlying schema therapy: Position paper of an international workgroup. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 45, 1007-1020. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-021-10209-5.
• Askari, A. (2021). New concepts in schema therapy: The six coping styles. Amir Askari.
• Beck, A. T., Freeman, A., & Davis, D. D. (2004). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders. Guilford Press.
• Briedis, J., & Startup, H. (2020). Somatic perspective in schema therapy: The role of the body in the awareness and transformation of modes and schemas. In G. Heath and H. Startup (Eds.), Creative methods in schema therapy: Advances and innovations in practice. Routledge, 60-75.
• Calvete, E., Orue, I., & Hankin, B. L. (2013). Early maladaptive schemas and social anxiety in adolescents: The mediating role of anxious automatic thoughts. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27, 278-288. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.02.011.
• Cutland Green, T., &