Launched earlier this year, our schema series breaks down the foundational ideas of schema therapy in an approachable and straightforward way. It also addresses the most common early maladaptive schemas (EMS) with a range of problem-specific handouts.

With illustrations, client-friendly explanations, and schema-specific examples, the handouts offer accessible guidance for those working with schema therapy in-session. They’re a great learning tool for anyone wanting to become more familiar with this approach.

Individuals with an emotional deprivation schema anticipate that other people will not provide the normal level of support, understanding, and guidance they want and need. As a result, individuals with this EMS feel uncared for, or disappointed with their relationships. They also long for emotional connection.

People with an emotional inhibition schema constrain their spontaneous emotional expressions, actions, and communications. As a result, they often appear detached, self-controlled, impersonal, or emotionally flat. This handout is designed to help you work more effectively with this maladaptive schema.

What role does affective forecasting — the process of estimating future emotional reactions — play in emotional difficulties? Affective forecasting is a critical component of decision-making and judgment. This scoping review suggests a link between the severity of psychopathology and the intensity of affective forecasts, although with exceptions. Notably, the specificity of the emotion being forecasted influences the degree of bias in the forecasts. These findings have clinical implications, but it is important that future research explores cultural factors that relate to this phenomenon.

In this fascinating RCT, researchers explored the inner workings of two well-known treatments, EMDR and imagery rescripting, in tackling childhood PTSD. Both treatments led to positive changes, indicating that EMDR and imagery rescripting are comparable treatments for reducing PTSD symptoms and related outcomes. Intriguingly, faster improvements were observed in EMDR, possibly due to its early emphasis on positive cognitions and addressing index traumas. The results partly indicated that imagery rescripting works through changes in distress and encapsulated beliefs, whereas the hypothesis that changes in vividness are a mechanism of change in EMDR was not supported. These findings may help inform more tailored and effective treatments for childhood PTSD going forward.