Re:Critiques of Schema Therapy

It is difficult to share a therapy approach and application of Young's therapy in a short 4 paragraph treatise. Maybe I did not clearly indicate that I spend much time teaching the offenders to challenge their maladaptive schema-experiential, cognitive and behavioral challenges.

But I do maintain that the offenders need to understand they hold a core belief of defectiveness or powerlessness and without this understanding, they will continue their counterattacking behaviors that include truely hurting other people.

I'd like to share a homework assignment from an offender who almost killed his wife when he found out she was cheating on him. This was a overcontrolled, dependent/family only-type abuser who was not antisocial. He in fact had "surrendered" to his schemas of abandonment, defectiveness and powerlessness until he became violent: "I didn't want my ex leaving , so I bent over backwards to get her to stay. I re-enlisted in the military so we could move away from what she considered 'our problems' (my family). I thought it would make her happy and she would stay. I got stationed up here so we moved here, but things never changed. I was in denial and submissive and still clung on to a sinking ship. Eventually I retaliated physically (I didn't think she cared enough for me to say anthing that would hurt her emotionally.)"

Then an antisocial/narcissistic offender who abused his wife: "I sometimes feel powerlessness with my wife when I can't control her, then I use aggression and hostility. Sometimes I felt unloved by my wife, so I won't show her love then I lash out with manipulation and exploitation. When my wife's female friends come over to the house, I get the feeling that I'm unwanted and no one cares about me-not even my wife. Then I turn to withdrawal from others and addiction."

First they have to feel the emotional pain of their maladaptive schemas or else they will continue to counterattack and be violent. Then we work on changing their schemas. I know exactly what to do to help the men I work with. And I have found that only Young's schema focus approach has shown the way to reach down into these hostile, and angry men to find their sad, more vulnerable side. If you read Beck's book- Prisoners of hate- you would see some of the same themes but in a less clear presentation.

I have written a 20 session program for offenders who were abused as children as well as integrating schema-focused material into domestic violence. In case you were interested, I was trained in cognitive therapy by Mervin Smucker at the Cognitive Therapy Institute in Milwaukee, WI. as well as the primary RET program through the Ellis Institute.

Replies:

Re:Critiques of Schema Therapy, by Jim Pretzer, 01/02/02 Re:Critiques of Schema Therapy, by Linda Nauth, 01/03/02 Re:Critiques of Schema Therapy, by Paul Salkovskis, 01/04/02 Re:Critiques of Schema Therapy, by Linda Nauth, 01/05/02 Response to Critiques of Schema Therapy (Long), by Jeffrey Young, 01/06/02 Response to Jeff Young's comments, by Jim Pretzer, 01/06/02 Response to Jim Pretzer's Comments, by Jeff Young, 01/07/02 Re:Response to Jim Pretzer's Comments, by Jim Pretzer, 01/09/02 Not meant to offend, by Paul Salkovskis, 01/07/02 Re:Not meant to offend, by Jeff's Patient, 01/07/02 Please note that this is a forum for discussion by professionals, by Jim Pretzer, 01/08/02 Re:Please note that this is a forum for discussion by professionals, by Jeff's Patient, 01/09/02 Re: Re: Please note that this is a forum for discussion by professionals, by Jim Pretzer, 01/09/02 Re:a question, by Linda Nauth, 01/09/02 Re:Response to Critiques of Schema Therapy (Long), by philippe conrard, 12/14/02 Re:Request for Jeff Young, by Jim Pretzer, 12/14/02

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