I’ve written about schema therapy in the past. I’ve never actually undergone the therapy itself; rather, I did the assessment and was able to change my behaviour based on 2 books I read.
I know, I know. I have to stop trying to do everything myself. At the time, the psychologist I was seeing had only just heard about the therapy and hadn’t been trained in it. The look of panic on his face when I let down the facade and let the child modes come out kinda confirmed that I should just stick to theory.
And it worked. It had a huge impact. The constant panic cleaning and adrenaline mostly went away. I’d correct myself when I was being too hypercritical. I was able to chillax and am relatively laid back compared to the agitated stress freak I am when I’m not coping.
It was interesting to note that unrelenting standards was one of my core schemas when I had a recent assessment.
Note: this isn’t me trying to self-treat or fix everything myself. It’s a lot easier to give up control to someone who is trained and can make the most impact. I just love nerding out on this and want to intellectualize 🙂
What are my current schemas?
According to the questionnaire, they are:
- ‘Social Isolation
- Failure to achieve
- Unrelenting standards
- Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking
I think this is fascinating; especially since I did the assessment 2-3 months ago. I believe that the social isolation one would be different now but but again, I’m being a nerd. I’m tempted to seek out another questionnaire to test that theory but don’t want to interfere with treatment.
In 2013, they were identified as follows:
Rated 9+:
- Unrelenting standards
- Dependence/incompetence
- Vulnerability
Rated 8
- Social isolation
- Mistrust/abuse
I find this fascinating. I was so focused on the top two issues – dependence/incompetence and unrelenting standards – that I had forgotten about the social isolation aspect. When I got told the results, I dismissed this schema saying that it was likely due to relapsing. Something to keep in mind with future treatment.
