Unmet Emotional Needs

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

Schema therapy posits that psychological difficulties stem from early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and peoples’ characteristic responses to them, referred to as ‘coping styles’. Schemas are enduring, foundational mental structures that play an essential role in cognitive processing, enabling humans to represent the complexities of the

"Everyone is born with core emotional needs, like the need to feel safe and accepted. Psychologists believe that if these core needs are not met when we are young, or if they are met inconsistently, we develop negative schemas. Can we explore how this might apply to you?"

• "How were your core needs responded to as a child? How well were they met?"
• "How were your needs responded to as an adolescent? How well were they met?"
• "Which of your needs weren’t met or were met inconsistently? What was missing?"
• "Were any of your needs met too much or too intensely?"
• "How did you cope with your unmet needs as a child?"
• "How did you cope with your unmet needs as an adolescent?"
• "Do any memories or images come to mind as you think about your unmet needs?"
• "Which schemas might be linked to your unmet needs?"
• "Can you see a link between your unmet needs and your current

• 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.
• Arntz, A., Rijkeboer, M., Chan, E., Fassbinder, E., Karaosmanoglu, A., Lee, C. W., & Panzeri, M. (2021). Towards a reformulated theory underlying schema therapy: Position paper of an international workgroup. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 45, 1007-1020. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-021-10209-5.
• Assiter, A., & Noonan, J. (2007). Human needs: A Realist Perspective. Journal of Critical Realism, 6, 173-198. DOI: 10.1558/jocr.v6i2.173.
• Bach, B., Lockwood, G., & Young, J. E. (2018). A new look at the schema therapy model: organization and role of early maladaptive schemas. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 47, 328-349. DOI: 10.1080/16506073.2017.1410566.
• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
• Beck, A.