What is your experience with therapy and schema therapy?

[t4ila]

Hello everyone,

I'm interested to know people's experiences with Schema Therapy and therapy in general.

I've had ongoing anxiety and self-esteem issues for 5-6 years now.

I had my first therapy session this week and my therapist recommended Schema Therapy.

I trust my therapist and will do what she feels is best for me, I'm just concerned how long it will take and what it will involve.

From what I've read, Schema Therapy is a long term therapy taking up to two years. I'm commited to doing it for that long but apprehensive about it taking a long time and being a rocky road before I start to feel better.

Has anyone tried Schema Therapy and can share their experiences with it? Did it take a long time for you to start to feel like it was helping you?

I'm a little bit anxious about it and what it means for me and would love to hear other peoples experiences. I appreciate everyone is different and experiences vary, but it would help me a lot to hear from others who went through it.

Thank you.

[Ma60]

I have used Schema Therapy. Found it really helped  me understand why I had negative thought patterns and my reactions to issues. It has helped me learn techniques that gives me an insight to handle life's problems.Tthere is a book by Jeffrey E Young & Janet Klosko called Reiventing Your Life. My psychologist recommended the book when I started Schema Therapy. 
I still use the book when I'm not feeling the best. Easy to read
I personally believe that this therapy is helpful in letting me have a better life 

[t4ila]

Thanks so much for your reply @Ma60 

How many sessions did you have of Schema Therapy until you started to find it helpful? Was it something you found you had to do very often over a long period of time or were you given techniques early on that you found helpful?

[ShiningStar]

Hi @t4ila 

I just wanted to reach out and welcome you to the forums - it’s great to have you here 

Over the years, I’ve participated in many different types of therapy with little if any success. Although the Therapists offered me various strategies, these felt more like band aids and when the band aids fell off, the wounds were still there. Nothing had healed and nothing had overly changed because the issues that had resulted in the wounds hadn’t been taken care of in the way that I needed. As such, my ability to sustain long lasting change was extremely limited and I found that I was grappling with the same issues day in day out. At times, I really did feel as though I was stuck on a never ending merry go round!

A few years ago, I found a Therapist who uses Schema Therapy and I’ve been participating in this approach for four years now! I know that it’s a really long time  but please don’t be too put off by this as there are many different factors that can contribute to this 

One of the things that I really love about Schema Therapy is that it works at a deeper level. As such, it goes beyond providing temporary relief from symptoms and it supports people to be able to understand themselves and achieve and sustain the longer term changes that are important to them.

This is the first time that I’ve felt as though someone really ‘gets me’ and it feels as though the approach focuses on understanding ‘what has happened for you’ in your life to contribute to the issues that you’re struggling with today, as opposed to focusing on ‘what is wrong with you.’ As such, I’m beginning to be able to put all of the puzzle pieces together and I feel the most hopeful that I have ever felt that recovery may actually be possible 

It can be really daunting trying to decide upon a therapeutic approach as there are so many to choose from! Sometimes, it’s only when we begin to participate in an approach, that we can really get a sense of how it feels and if it’s a good fit for us 

I hope that this helps you a little bit 

Take care,

ShiningStar 

[Ma60]

Sorry I haven't replied before now. I started schema therapy over 10 years ago. It took about six months to  understand and process in a helpful way. It is not a quick fix and it took a couple years to feel comfortable about issues. I don't do regular sessions about my schemas anymore. Schema therapy is my fallback when I'm not  feeling the best. I read Reinventing my life and work through the schema that I am struggling with at the time. Also when I see my psychologist we discuss the issue troubling me at the time. For me it is maintenance that keeps things in perspective. 

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