Throughout the assessment process, the therapist educates the patient about the schema model. Patients become educated primarily through discussion, assigned readings, and self-observation. As they learn about the model, patients can participate more fully in the formation of their case conceptualizations.
We assign Reinventing Your Life (Young & Klosko, 1994) to patients to help them learn about their schemas, referred to as “lifetraps” in the book. The book presents extensive case examples. We have found that patients relate well to the characters in these examples and thus engage emotionally with the material. The book explains the nature of “lifetraps” and describes the three coping styles of surrender, avoidance, and overcompensation (called “surrender,” “escape,” and “counterattack”). The book next presents chapters on each of 11 lifetraps. These chapters provide their own questionnaires, which patients can take to ascertain whether they are likely to have that lifetrap. The chapters then describes the typical childhood origins of the lifetrap; danger signals in potential partners (who perpetuate rather than heal the lifetrap); how the lifetrap manifests itself in relationships, particularly romantic ones; and specific strategies for change.
We recommend that patients read the first five short introductory chapters and then one or two chapters about their primary schemas. Even if the patient has many more schemas, we work on only the primary one or two first. We may recommend other chapters later, as the topics arise naturally in the patient’s everyday life or in therapy sessions.
As patients learn about their schemas, they begin to observe the activity of their schemas in their current lives. They self-monitor their schemas and coping styles using the Schema Diary form. We say more about the self-monitoring of schemas and coping styles in Chapter 3. Self-observation helps patients see how automatically their schemas are triggered and how pervasive they are in their lives. Patients can observe what is happening and can often recognize that they are behaving in self-destructive ways, even if they are not yet able to change their behavior patterns.