Schema Therapy, Contextual Schema Therapy and Case Formulation: Commentary on Chapter “Case Formulation in Process-Based Therapies”

Abstract

Schema Therapy combines cognitive theory and developmental concepts. The impact of early childhood need frustrations leads to biased cognitive schemata. The focus on aversive early childhood experiences and resulting schemas broadens the scope of conventional cognitive case formulations into the very early childhood years. The experiential interventions used in Schema Therapy add an emotional dimension to the initial cognitive framework, by bringing the clients in touch with significant childhood experiences. The Contextual Schema Therapy approach tries to further develop Schema Therapy by using the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) processes to describe in detail, how the clients in their adaptive modes relate to schema activations and the resulting modes. For all these reasons, Schema Therapy is a kind of hybrid in dealing with the case formulation, combining aware executive management and experiential development.