The Schema Therapy Center of California offers schema therapy for adults and older teens suffering from chronic anxiety, depression, OCD and personality disorders. We offer video therapy to clients living in all the major regions of California including the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley/San Jose, Sacramento Valley and Sierra Foothills, Los Angeles area, Orange County, San Diego, Central Coast and other parts of California.
What is Schema Therapy?
Schema Therapy is an evidence-based approach for long lasting change in the personality dynamics that impact chronic emotional and relationship problems. Schema Therapy was developed by Jeffrey Young while he was at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and he eventually branched out on his own. Schema Therapy is considered an integrative model because it draws on cognitive therapy, behaviorism, attachment theory, emotion-focused and relationship-based therapies and other schools of thought. Due to its strong roots in cognitive behavior therapy, I believe it is a natural extension to CBT for helping people who want or need a more depth-oriented approach.
Schema Therapy places emphasis on:
- Identifying and resolving self-defeating life patterns and deeply rooted emotional themes,
- Building resiliency and productive responses to life challenges,
- Drawing out and enabling the strong part of your personality,
- Employing a variety of cognitive, behavioral and emotional change techniques, and
- Using the therapeutic relationship as a vehicle for change
- What Is the Theory Behind Schema Therapy?
In Schema Therapy, you will learn which of your schemas are triggered when you notice a strong reaction in yourself. The schema model has identified 18 schemas, typically developed when core emotional needs are not meet in childhood. Some common schemas include abandonment, defectiveness/shame, unrelenting standards, and vulnerability to harm/illness.
In order to cope with the pain when our schemas are triggered, we may develop certain coping styles including:
- Surrender: giving in to our schemas and repeating them over and over,
- Avoidance: finding ways to escape or block out our schemas, and/or
- Overcompensation: doing the opposite of what our schemas make us feel.
When triggered, we may have a strong emotional reaction or mood shift, and we then enter a coping state called a “schema mode.” There are four categories of schema modes: the innate Child modes (vulnerability, anger, undisciplined/impulsive, contented), the Maladaptive Coping modes (detachment, compliance, overcompensating), the Maladaptive Parent modes (punitive, demanding), and the Healthy Adult mode. The goal of schema therapy is to help you get your core needs met in an adaptive manner by enhancing the Healthy Adult coping mode so your schemas are triggered less frequently and intensely and you can recover more quickly.
Is Schema Therapy Evidence-Based?
There is a large and growing research base for schema therapy, primarily led by therapists in Europe, where there is support and government funding for longer-term therapies that have been proven effective for deeper and longer-lasting change. In the U.S., most research grants and insurance funding are targeted toward shorter-term therapy approaches for symptom reduction. As a result, schema therapy is not well-known in the U.S. As of this writing, there are no Certified Schema Therapists in California. Laura Johnson, LMFT, LPCC, is an Advanced Certified Schema Therapist and trained at the Schema Therapy Institutes of New York and New Jersey. Laura is a member of the International Society of Schema Therapy.
Who Does Schema Therapy Help?
Schema Therapy is particularly well suited for adults as well as children, teens and families who:
- Have recurring depression, anxiety and relationship problems and don’t understand why they stay stuck in the same patterns year after year,
- Want deeper, more long lasting personality change and relapse prevention after their anxiety, depression and other immediate crises have been resolved,
- Have chronic anxiety, OCD and depression that does not respond fully to standard CBT, DBT and exposure therapy protocols, or
- Have successfully completed evidence-based treatment for anxiety, depression, OCD and other problems and want to continue to work on underlying issues in order to improve the quality of their lives and relationships.
Schema Therapy has been tailored for many populations including children, teens and families. This is an exciting development in Schema Therapy because helps children and teens develop into healthy adults and prevent them from having chronic anxiety, depression and other problems in adulthood.
- How to Get Started with Schema Therapy
CONTACT US
California Communities We Serve
Silicon Valley/San Jose region
San Jose Schema Therapy • Saratoga Schema Therapy • Los Gatos Schema Therapy • Monte Sereno Schema Therapy • Cupertino Schema Therapy • Campbell Schema Therapy • Mountain View Schema Therapy • Los Altos Schema Therapy • Sunnyvale Schema Therapy • Santa Clara Schema Therapy * Palo Alto Schema Therapy
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Schema Therapy * San Mateo Schema Therapy * Burlingame Schema Therapy * Foster City Schema Therapy * Marin Schema Therapy * Napa Schema Therapy * Sonoma Schema Therapy * Sausalito Schema Therapy * Tiburon Schema Therapy * Redwood City Schema Therapy * Woodside Schema Therapy * Portola Valley Schema Therapy * Half Moon Bay Schema Therapy * Menlo Park Schema Therapy * Hillsborough Schema Therapy * Atherton Schema Therapy
Sacramento Valley region
Sacramento Schema Therapy • Roseville Schema Therapy • Rocklin Schema Therapy • Granite Bay Schema Therapy • Lincoln Schema Therapy • Folsom Schema Therapy • Citrus Heights Schema Therapy • El Dorado Hills Schema Therapy • Loomis Schema Therapy • Grass Valley Schema Therapy • Auburn Schema Therapy
Southern California
Los Angeles Schema Therapy * Beverly Hills Schema Therapy * San Diego Schema Therapy * Carlsbad Schema Therapy * Laguna Beach Schema Therapy * Venice Schema Therapy * Santa Monica Schema Therapy * Irvine Schema Therapy * Huntington Beach Schema Therapy * Ventura Schema Therapy * La Jolla Schema Therapy * Hollywood Schema Therapy * Palm Springs Schema Therapy * Malibu/Calabasas Schema Therapy * Long Beach Schema Therapy * Burbank Schema Therapy * Pasadena Schema Therapy * Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley Schema Therapy
Central California
Santa Cruz Schema Therapy * Carmel Schema Therapy * Monterey Schema Therapy * Pismo Beach Schema Therapy * Santa Barbara Schema Therapy * San Luis Obispo Schema Therapy
CONTACT US
Schema Therapy Center of California
900 E. Hamilton Ave, Suite 100, Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 384-8404