Chapter 8 - Intervention Strategies for Schema Healing 3

Summary

Experiential techniques are central to schema therapy. Moreover, they can be synergetic to changes within cognitive or behavioural domains, or within the therapy relationship. Nonetheless, they are often challenging and are omitted from the schema therapy treatment. Typically, experiential work comes in the form of chairwork or imagery-based interventions or ‘dialogues’. Imagery Rescripting is a powerful experiential method and a central change mechanism in schema therapy; it aims to change the legacy of childhood experiences, images, and memories linked to schema and mode development; rescripting results in the formation of new adaptive meanings and access to feelings and insights. In contrast, a chairwork technique is highly suitable within a schema therapy context, enhancing schema mode work. First, chairwork can result in a more distinct and clear illustration to the client of mode interplay. Second, it allows the client to take the ‘perspective’ of the mode and make dysfunctional modes and schemas as ego-dystonic and defused. Often emotional techniques are avoided by therapists learning the schema therapy model, typically related to confidence in interventions and making things ‘worse’ for the client. It is essential for the schema therapist to learn to utilise emotion-focused work to be helpful for the client.