Schema Therapy in Melbourne
For exploring patterns that developed before you knew they had a name
When the same struggle keeps finding new shapes
Maybe it's a relationship that ends differently each time but somehow lands you in the same place. Perhaps it's the job you were so excited about until the familiar feeling of never being good enough crept back in. Sometimes it manifests as the way you can rationally know your friend isn't upset with you, whilst a deeper part of you is already bracing for conflict or rejection. These repeating patterns are no coincidence, and are often shaped through early life experiences.
Schema Therapy is another evidence-based approach used at The Felt Sense to help make sense of these patterns. Originally developed by Dr Jeffrey Young, it brings together cognitive behavioural therapy, attachment theory and experiential/body based work to look at where these experiences originated. Often they trace back to childhood, including moments where our core needs (like safety, autonomy, space to express emotions, or opportunities to be playful and spontaneous) went unmet in some way. If this happens repeatedly, our minds can acquire a belief to make sense of this unmet need (such as "I'm not enough” or "people always leave eventually") and that belief can be the blueprint that we take into our relationships and daily life in adulthood.
A common misconception is that Schema Therapy is only useful for long standing/severe difficulties (e.g., personality disorders). In reality, it's just as suited to the everyday patterns that many people live with and rarely question. This includes things like chronic people-pleasing, perfectionism, or a harsh inner voice that's been there for as long as you can remember. Both ends of that spectrum are valid, and both respond to the same underlying approach.
Helping you to understand the ‘somatic signature’ beneath the words
How Schema Therapy can help
Schema Therapy is commonly used for long-standing patterns that keep showing up no matter the situation, including:
Feeling like you're never good enough, or hearing a harsh voice in your head that's hard to switch off.
Struggling to say no/set boundaries, or putting everyone else's needs ahead of your own.
Holding yourself to impossibly high standards and rarely feeling like you've done enough.
Worrying that people will eventually leave or finding it hard to fully trust closeness in relationships.
Doubting yourself constantly, or needing others to reassure you that you're doing okay
Finding it hard to relax/have fun, or do something just because it feels good without earning it through productivity or effort.
If you notice the same feelings or struggles constantly resurfacing, whether that’s in relationships, jobs, friendships or life transitions, Schema Therapy explores what is actually driving that pattern, rather than simply dealing with each situation as it comes up. At The Felt Sense, it's offered alongside other approaches in Thornbury and via telehealth, shaped around your own story, with the goal of fostering your Healthy Adult self.
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Schema Therapy is built on the idea that we are all born with the same five core emotional needs:
to feel securely attached
to develop our own sense of autonomy
to express our emotions without being shut down or invalidated
to have appropriate limits and boundaries
to have opportunities for spontaneity and play
When one of these needs goes unmet often enough in childhood we may develop a belief or "schema," to make sense of the gap. This schema is like a lens we use to see the world, and with it comes it’s own patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Whilst these schemas may be seemingly invisible day to day, they tend to become strongly activated in certain relationships or situations.
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Initial sessions involve understanding your history and identifying which schemas and repeated experiences are most active in your life. This can be determined through using structured questionnaires alongside conversation. From here we will work to understand where a pattern began and to shift this pattern through experiencing something different in the room. This includes approaches such as imagery rescripting, chair work, and what's known as limited reparenting, where the therapeutic relationship itself offers a corrective experience within clear professional boundaries. The goal is to help the underlying belief feel less true over time. rather than just merely understanding the pattern intellectually.
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A schema mode is the particular emotional state a schema puts you in at a given moment. Examples might include:
a vulnerable child mode holding old fear/sadness
a coping mode like people-pleasing or emotional shutdown
a harsh, punishing inner voice.
Part of Schema Therapy involves getting to know these modes as they show up for you, rather than treating them as flaws to eliminate.
Limited reparenting refers to the therapist offering things like warmth or validation that may have been missing earlier in your life, within the appropriate bounds of a therapeutic relationship. This is so that new, more secure experiences have room to develop.
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Feel free to book a free 15-minute chat to get a sense of whether The Felt Sense feels like the right fit for you. From there, we'll organise your first session, in person in Thornbury, Melbourne, or via telehealth. No referral is needed to book, though if you have a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, bring the details along so your Medicare rebate can be processed from the start.