Self-Sacrifice
Schema therapy posits that psychological difficulties stem from early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and clients’ characteristic responses to them, referred to as ‘coping styles’. This Self-Sacrifice information handout forms part of the Psychology Tools Schema series. It is designed to help clients and therapists to work more effectively with common early maladaptive schemas (EMS).
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Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
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Introduction & Theoretical Background
A brief introduction to schema therapy
Schema therapy is an integrative therapy initially developed for treating complex, longstanding, and diffuse psychological difficulties. It combines cognitive behavioral, attachment, gestalt, object relationships, constructivist, psychoanalytic, and neurobiological approaches within a unifying conceptual model (Young, 1990, 1999; Young et al., 2003). Additional interventions have since been outlined, such as EMDR (Young et al., 2002), mindfulness (van Vreeswijk et al., 2014), and body-focused methods (Briedis & Startup, 2020). Schema therapy expands on CBT by emphasizing the developmental origins of psychological problems, incorporating relational and experiential interventions, and targeting the maladaptive coping styles that perpetuate these difficulties (Young et al., 2003).
Early maladaptive schemas
Schemas are enduring, foundational mental structures that play an essential role in cognitive processing, enabling humans to represent the complexities of the world (Rafaeli et al., 2016). By simplifying reality, they make the vast array of information we encounter manageable, enabling quick
Therapist Guidance
Many people struggle with self-sacrifice, and it sounds like this schema might be relevant to you too. Would you be willing to explore it more with me?”
Clinicians might begin by providing psychoeducation about self-sacrifice and EMS more generally:
- Schemas are negative themes and patterns that start in your childhood and continue throughout your life. Some are very common.
- Schemas get usually stronger as time passes, becoming the negative filters people use to understand and predict the world. You could think of them as dark sunglasses – they color and distort our experiences in unhelpful ways.
- Schemas operate ‘behind the scenes’: we’re not usually aware of them or when they are active. However, with practice, you can become more aware of them. It is a bit like a theatre – you can learn to bring your backstage schemas to the main stage.
- One common schema is ‘self-sacrifice’. If you
References And Further Reading
- Ahmadian, A., Mirzaee, J., Omidbeygi, M., Holsboer-Trachsler, E., & Brand, S. (2015). Differences in maladaptive schemas between patients suffering from chronic and acute posttraumatic stress disorder and healthy controls. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 11, 1677-1684. DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S85959.
- Ak, M., Lapsekili, N., Haciomeroglu, B., Sutcigil, L., & Turkcapar, H. (2012). Early maladaptive schemas in bipolar disorder. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 85, 260-267. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.2011.02037.x.
- Aksu, G. G., Kayar, O., Tufan, A. E., Kütük, M. Ö., Özdağ Acarli, A. N., Sucu, D. H., Bahar, T., Toros, F., & Özge, A. (2023). Early maladaptive schemas in episodic and chronic migraine in adolescents. Frontiers in Neurology, 14, 1128953. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1128953.
- Alba, J., Calvete, E., Wante, L., Van Beveren, M. L., & Braet, C. (2018). Early maladaptive schemas as moderators of the association between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 42, 24-35. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-017-9874-5.
- Alberti, R.,