Schema Skills Lab
***Sydney event has passed however we will be headed to Melbourne in March 2027! Complete the EOI form for priority access***
Join Dani and Erika in this first-ever workshop series. These sessions are designed as a hybrid supervision–workshop experience, creating a practical space for therapists to deepen their schema therapy skills through hands-on learning and deliberate practice. Choose from imagery rescripting, chairwork, or attend both.
Many clinicians find that after attending schema therapy workshops, they need time to practise the techniques with clients before they can meaningfully troubleshoot challenges that arise. However, this process can be limited by lack of access to supervision or reduced confidence in continuing to apply the skills. This is where the workshop series comes in.
Each session focuses on deliberate practice of core experiential techniques in a small-group setting, with opportunities to troubleshoot common challenges and refine clinical skills through feedback, discussion, and guided exercises. The aim is to support therapists to feel more confident, flexible, and effective in using imagery rescripting and chairwork in their clinical work. We will be sending you a survey prior to the workshop to better understand your learning needs and to determine your level of experience, so that we can best ‘match’ you with a role-play partner of similar experience for the workshop. This is to ensure you all get as much as possible out of the day.
Whilst there is no ‘pre-requisite’, we highly recommend that you have completed at least a Level 1/introductory workshop in schema therapy and are comfortable with the terminology and have attempted the techniques with at least one client. As we are going straight into skills, it will be assumed that you know how to complete a schema formulation. If you do not feel comfortable with your formulation, we highly recommend you sign up for Erika’s 2nd May online workshop on “Schema Therapy Formulation for CBT and ACT therapists“
Expect lots of role-playing and minimal slides – this is all about experiencing!
Details
When: Friday 7th August
Time: 9 am-12 pm for Imagery Rescripting and 1 pm-5 pm for Chairwork
Venue: Fuller Room at Crows Nest Centre (2 Ernest Place, Crows Nest). For transport and parking please check here
Please note that light refreshments will be provided, for those who are doing both workshops, you will have 1 hour during lunch to eat at one of the nearby cafes/restaurants.
About your trainers
Dr Erika Penney is the Principal of Schema Therapy & Supervision Australia and President of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA). She holds an Advanced ISST Certification in Schema Therapy and has particular expertise in complex trauma, attachment trauma, high-complexity presentations, and work across youth and adult psychology. She served as a Senior Academic for the last 7 years and continues as a UTS Honorary Academic working on innovative research projects in mental health. Her teaching expertise has been recognised with Learning and Teaching Grants, two UTS VC Teaching Awards, and an Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) national citation.
Daniela (Dani) Ho Tan is a Vietnamese-Australian Clinical Psychologist, Board-Approved Supervisor and Director of Mindwealth Psychology and Project HoriZen. She is an ISST Accredited Supervisor and provides training and supervision in culturally responsive schema therapy both in Australia and internationally. Her clinical and teaching interests focus on integrating culture into schema therapy practice, particularly when working with Asian heritage clients. Dani is currently completing her PhD at the University of Sydney, where her research focuses on developing a culturally responsive model of schema therapy for Asian heritage populations. Alongside her clinical work, she is actively involved in professional training and education, supporting clinicians to integrate cultural understanding, experiential techniques, and reflective practice into their therapeutic work.
Cancellation policy: Full refund if cancelled two weeks prior to workshop, 50% refund if cancelled one week prior to workshop. Please be advised there will be a $50 admin fee applied to all cancellations.
*Please note that it is up to each person to manage their supervision/CPD schedule, both Erika and Dani are board-approved supervisors and you may be able to count some components of the small group feedback sections as group supervision and use the relevant calculations (as provided by your regulation body).
**If you are currently completing schema therapy accreditation, you may be able to count some of the hours under the group supervision calculations. Please indicate this in your checkout form, as you will need to be part of Dani’s group.
