What are Cognitive Schemas?

What is a schema

As we go through life, we develop collections of information about various objects and categories in the world (the world, the self, people, relationships, places etc) and we need a way to organise and access that information efficiently.

A schema is a mental collection of information, memories, emotions, attitudes and beliefs associated with a particular category such as the self or relationships. 

When a schema is relatively accurate, it is adaptive (has a positive impact on our life). Schemas help us to efficiently make predictions and decisions about the world around us. For example, we don’t have to think very hard about what to do when we go to a new restaurant or meet a new work colleague, because we already have an unconscious mental script which tells us generally what to expect and how to behave.

What is a maladaptive schema

However, sometimes schemas can have a negative impact on our lives. A maladaptive schema is a pervasive self-defeating or dysfunctional schema (often about the self, the world, or relationships) which has a negative impact on one’s mood or functioning.  

For example, people with the ‘Failure’ self-schema have deeply ingrained beliefs that they are a failure, or will inevitably fail because they are somehow fundamentally inadequate relative to others. People with schemas classified as ‘Approval or recognition-seeking’ often place excessive emphasis on gaining approval, attention, or recognition from other people, and their self-esteem is dependent primarily on external as opposed to internal validation.  The ‘Vulnerability to Harm’ schema might involve a deep belief that the world is a  dangerous place and catastrophe might strike at any time.

For a complete list of maladaptive schema categories click here.

These schemas often develop early in life but can also develop in response to significant events and relationships later in life as well.

Effects

The effects of maladaptive schemas can include:

• Damaging our self-worth by negatively colouring or impacting the way we view ourselves
• Dysfunctional reactions to particular events
• Avoidance of certain activities or relationships
• Errors in judgement or anxiety by creating a negative filter through which we interpret the world around us
• Conflict in relationships
• Becoming overly dependent or overly independent/disconnected
• Damaging motivation by causing feelings of hopelessness or a lack of control
• Perpetuating anxiety or depression
• Development of unhealthy coping patterns

Treatment

Schemas can often be quite resistant to change. Once you develop a negative schema, it can unconsciously affect your thoughts and actions, often in an attempt to protect you from emotional distress. However, it is absolutely possible to change our schemas with the right approach. Treatment can involve:

• Psycho-education (learning how schemas affect your brain)
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (focusing on how negative thought processes affect our behaviour and reinforce these schemas)
• Mindfulness (to develop an awareness of schemas when they arise, and how they affect our thoughts and actions)
• Developing psychological flexibility (becoming open to alternate ways of seeing things)
• Schema therapy (learning how your schemas may have developed and how this leads to unhealthy coping strategies)

by Amy Bourke B.A PSYCH (hons), Counsellor and Lecturer in Psychology