I've been in Schema therapy for 1 year + now and I really like how it blends cognitive therapy (
Jeffery Young was initially trained in CBT) with elements of exploring the past (linking your present issues to your
Early Maladaptive Schemas) and gestalt techniques (Empty Chairs etc).
Schema therapy supposedly requires a therapist who "genuinely cares" for the client, who is willing to be "more flexible" boundaries wise than "most modalities". A "willingness to touch" is supposedly necessary, although touch might not be used (eg with clients who have committed offences) as the unwillingness to touch might signal an "Emotional Inhibition" schema in the therapist (Source -
Schema Therapy - A Practitioner's Guide).
Hence, warmth, flexibility (Source - the above book and
a scale assessing therapists) is supposedly required as these are the requirements for "Limited reparenting".
I feel that the framework is easy to understand and quite non-shaming. The concept of "
limited reparenting" is considered to be the "core" of the therapy something I quite like. I do have many moments of telling my T to "stop all this limited reparenting BS!!!" when I feel pain over the contrast between my upbringing and therapy.
While I do not have borderline personality disorder, the view is "needy, not greedy" and the therapist is encouraged to view a client who is being hostile as a vulnerable child lashing out. I do think some clients might find it infantilizing, but I feel it is much more non-pathologising than viewing someone as "manipulative".
I'm a fan, haha. One thing about it makes me incredibly sad though...because the therapist is basically trying to meet "some" of the client's emotional needs within the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship... It sure brings out the contrast with a painful upbringing.
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Limited reparenting flows directly from schema therapies assumption that early maladaptive schemas and modes arise when core needs are not met. Schema therapy’s aim is to meet these needs by helping the patient find the experiences that were missed in early childhood that will serve as an antidote to the damaging experiences that led to maladaptive schemas and modes. Limited reparenting, paralleling healthy parenting, involves the establishment of a secure attachment through the therapist, within the bounds of a professional relationship, doing what she can to meet these needs. -- Source
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Some good books:
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It would neatly explain why I feel such an affinity with descriptions of Avoidant Personality Disorder,
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Same! Although I have not been diagnosed as AvPD, Social Anxiety Disorder alone does not explain the deep sense of worthlessness and inadequacy I feel, hence me relating very much to APD.