Self-Therapy/Self-Reflective Practice for Schema Therapy Practitioners

with Rita Younan, Ruth Holt & Daniela Ho Tan

About the retreat

In Schema Therapy, the therapist’s qualities are central to the therapeutic technique in providing limited re-parenting and a working model of a ‘healthy adult’. An important part of training for Schema Therapists (and therapists in general) therefore is self-reflective practice; to understand and manage the activation of our own underlying schemas and modes. This is especially important for therapists who routinely work with complex patients (e.g. complex trauma, eating disorders, personality disorders) and settings (e.g. prisons, inpatient wards, group therapy work) which can easily trigger our own schema-based reactions. Awareness and management of our own schemas and modes is therefore crucial to effective schema therapy and managing risk of therapist burnout. Participation in the workshop will include practice of new interventions to use with clients and give access to a deeper, ‘experiential’ understanding of schema therapy interventions.

There are three ways this workshop could be used for ISST Schema Therapy certification.

  1. It can be counted as 3 hours (Standard level) or 6 hours (Advanced level) of the number of supervision hours required for ISST Individual ST certification or
  2. Attendance could be used to meet the Group Schema Therapy certification requirement of 6 hours of group schema therapy self-practice. To meet this requirement one of the facilitators must be certified at the trainer-supervisor level in Group ST. Dr. Rita Younan meets the GST trainer-supervisor requirement.
  3. It could also be counted for the 8 hours every 2 years of continuing education requirement to maintain ISST certification as a schema therapist.

The workshop hours can only be used for one of these three ISST requirements, however, they could additionally be used to meet other professional continued education requirements.

This two day workshop is based on the Schema Therapy Self-practice/Self-reflection workbook for therapists by Joan Farrell & Ida Shaw “Schema Therapy from the Inside-Out”. Attendance is beneficial for both new and experienced therapists.

Event Details

📅 Date: 22-23 August 2025
🕘 Time: 9.30am–4.30pm
📍 Location: The Residence, Bintan Island