The schema therapist views the therapy relationship as a vital component of schema assessment and change. Two features of the therapy relationship are characteristic of schema therapy: the therapeutic stance of empathic confrontation and the use of limited reparenting. Empathic confrontation—or empathic reality-testing—involves expressing understanding of the reasons that patients perpetuate their schemas while simultaneously confronting the necessity for change. Limited reparenting involves providing, within the appropriate boundaries of the therapy relationship, what patients needed but did not get from their parents as children.
This chapter describes the therapy relationship in schema therapy. We focus on how the therapy relationship is helpful first in the assessment of schemas and coping styles and second as an agent of change.