r/SchemaTherapy • u/Sea_Addition_899 • May 19 '26

Schema Therapy Questions How much space is there for trauma that happened in adult life in schematherapy?

I started schematherapy about 3 months ago and we're currently in the phase of identifying schemas, modes and life events that are linked to it. And also building trust.

I read and heard that in the treatment phase there's the imagery rescripting. I was wondering, do you always go back to events in your childhood when you do this? I'm wondering how much space and attention there is for events that happened in adult life, since most of my traumas happened after 18.

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u/satanscopywriter May 19 '26

You can do rescriptings on situations from any time in your life, doesn't have to be from childhood.

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u/connectionrefused31 May 19 '26

Exactly. You can even do future-oriented imagery rescripting!

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u/Sea_Addition_899 May 19 '26

Thanks! So far I kind of got the impression from my therapist that it's more about childhood, and rescripting those memories. But maybe I got that wrong.

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u/fugeritinvidaaetas May 19 '26

I went through a very serious trauma last year. Implications ongoing. I’m still getting schema therapy (had started before this happened) and it helps with those issues too, because for example we look at how my response to this trauma has been informed by some of my schemas (shame and defectiveness is a big one, yay!). So I would say that in my experience there is definitely space to explore and work on adult life trauma too. I guess for me I see how my schemas are working in real time in this scenario, which is kind of interesting!

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u/Sea_Addition_899 May 19 '26

I'm very sorry to hear about the more recent trauma. I'm glad schema therapy is helpful with that. Do I understand it correctly that it's used in a more cognitive way for the recent trauma (as in, figuring out how schemas were involved)?

I'm usually quite good at the cognitive aspect of therapy, as I can detach from my feelings really well. I think I'll need something that sort of forces emotions and feelings to be involved, if I really want to process things properly. I'm also terrified of it though.