Therapy Group

Date & Time

Weekly meetings on Mondays from 5:30- 7:30 pm.  

11 sessions from September 30 until December 9, excluding October 14 (for Thanksgiving).

 

Type

Virtual (Zoom Video)

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Title

Experiential Schema Therapy Group​

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What is Experiential Group Schema Therapy?

Schema Therapy Training Canada draws strongly on the ground breaking work of
Joan Farrell and Ida Shaw in developing Self-Practice/Self-Reflection groups.
Experiential Group ST is designed for both advanced and beginner Schema
Therapists. It is a training program that combines a “…structured experience of
using ST interventions on yourself” (Farrell and Shaw, 2018) to deepen your
understanding of both how it feels to experience ST, and how you work with
clients using this model.

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What would I expect to learn in the group?

You will be going through the experience of applying Schema Therapy to yourself.
You will fill out and score your own YSQ (Young Schema Questionnaire) and SMI
(Schema Mode Inventory), to identify your own schemas and modes. You will
learn to complete the Schema Therapy Case Conceptualization, using yourself as
the client, so that you can recognize your own triggers when working with clients.
ST emphasizes limited reparenting as a critical approach in therapy. In order to do
this with your clients, you need to be aware of triggers and manage them in highly
activated situations in therapy. At the same time, you will be validating and
remaining attuned to the client, in a warm, caring manner, setting limits and
supporting the growth of the Healthy Adult Mode of autonomy. That is a lot at
one time! Being prepared for your own triggers to be activated, and knowing how
to manage them, will help you in those challenging moments in therapy.
We will be doing role plays and dyadic work, along with experiential exercises that
you can use with your clients. Research shows that therapists who have a large
amount of intervention practice have better treatment outcomes than those
whose training is primarily dydactic (Farrell and Shaw, 2018, Ten Napel-Schtuz,
Tineke, Bamelis, &; Arntz, 2016).
In this group, our goal is to apply ST to ourselves. You will use the group to
explore what you learn about yourself personally, and reflect on what that means
for you professionally, regarding how you work with clients and what their
experiences are like as they go through the same process that you did. This is an

integrated approach to learning, in which therapists learn how to apply
interventions in their practice with clients, while focusing on their own lived
experience of that learning about themselves through the lense of a Schema
Therapist.
You can share as much or as little about yourself as you are comfortable with.
People who are able to share tend to get more out of the group experience, as
they have the opportunity