The work in Schema Focused Therapy begins with a thorough exploration of your personal history to identify the core schemas driving your emotional pain. This often involves questionnaires, life story discussions, and careful mapping of repeating patterns in relationships and behavior.
Therapists then use experiential techniques such as imagery rescripting, where clients revisit painful childhood moments in a safe, guided way to rewrite the emotional meaning of those experiences. Clients also learn to recognize when different modes are activated and practice dialogues between their Healthy Adult and other modes, gradually building self-compassion and emotional regulation skills.
Cognitive restructuring is another important element, where distorted beliefs about self-worth, safety, and trust are challenged and replaced with healthier, more accurate perspectives. Through a process called limited reparenting, therapists model empathy, protection, and care, helping clients experience corrective emotional experiences they may have missed during childhood.
Between sessions, clients often practice homework assignments that reinforce schema awareness, emotional regulation, and new relational patterns. Over time, clients experience a gradual restructuring of identity and increased ability to form secure, fulfilling relationships.