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Therapy Modalities
A broad range of approaches are used to suit each person's uniqueness. The approaches which are mainly used in my practice include schema therapy, psychodynamic therapy, Mentalising Based Treatment (MBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), EMDR, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), mindfulness based CBT, Relational Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy ( EFT), Internal Family System Therapy (IFS),Three Phase Trauma Therapy (Tri-Phasic treatment), mindfulness, etc. Given the proved effectiveness and its emphasis of emotional attunement, schema therapy is my particular interest.
From my personal perspective, psychotherapy is a kind of interpersonal interactive Art. It is like a Tango dance. The flow, dynamics and speed created by both therapists and clients. I like to mix the beautiful ingredients from various approaches to create a customised song tailored to each unique person's flow. If you have tried many other therapy modalities which didn't work, let's try something new together.
About Schema Therapy
Schema therapy (ST) is an integrative approach that brings together elements from cognitive behavioral therapy, attachment and psychoanalytic object relations theory, and Gestalt and experiential therapies. It was introduced by Jeff Young in 1990 and has been developed and refined since then. Schema therapy is considered an effective way of conceptualizing and treating complex mental health issues, such as personality disorders, complex trauma and chronic depression. It also has been proved to be effective in treating general mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.
Schema therapy has been proved to be effective in treating chronic DSM Axis I disorders and milder personality issues, such as when patients fail to respond or relapse after having been through other therapies (for example, traditional cognitive behavioural therapy).
The fundamental aspects of schema therapy (ST):
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ST places more emphasis than traditional CBT upon the development of current symptoms.
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ST emphasizes the therapist–patient relationship and its potential for corrective influence.
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ST aims to help patients understand their core emotional needs and to learn ways of meeting those needs adaptively.
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ST focuses extensively on the processing of memories of aversive childhood experiences, making use of experiential techniques to change negative emotions related to such memories
Schema therapy has been extensively researched to effectively treat a wide variety of typically treatment resistant conditions, including Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. "Schema Therapy has been shown to be significantly more effective than traditional treatments for a broad range of personality disorders, contributing to real recovery, not just symptom reduction" The research shows that "The promise of schema therapy that it can deal with psychological problems largely ignored by mainstream cognitive behavior therapy, such as recurrent problems in intimate relationships and the processing of troublesome memories and patterns from childhood, is attractive".
Schema therapy contributes to "real recovery, defined not only by a reduction of symptoms, but by the creation of a life that is satisfying and of high quality, is undoubtedly appealing".
How to be a ISST certified schema therapist?
According to the policy of International Schema Therapy Society (ISST), to qualify for certification in Schema Therapy a person must fulfill the following two qualifications:
1. Academic training: Hold at least a master's degree in psychology, clinical social work, psychiatric nursing or a counseling area that leads to licensing; or a medical degree with psychiatric residency (or residency equivalent if it is defined differently in that country).
2. License or certification for practice: In countries that certify or license the above professions, a person must be certified or licensed by either the
government body or professional organization which grants this. If no such control exists in a country, the standard of one of the national or international professional psychotherapy organizations must be met to fulfill this requirement.
Alongside the required qualifications, the therapist should complete the required schema training, supervision and recorded session rating to pass the required score to achieve either standard or advanced schema therapist certification.
For example, to get standard individual schema therapist certification, the therapist need to complete 25 hours didactic, minimum 15 hours supervised role play in dyads, 20 hours supervision sessions, working with minimum of 2 cases, at least 25 therapy hours each; One patient with a personality disorder or significant personality disorder features, the remainder patients appropriate for Schema Mode work; minimum 80 patient sessions; 1 year supervision duration; submit one recorded session for rating and the score of Session Competency Ratings must be minimum 4.0.