Schema Therapy in San Diego
Schema therapy explores the long-standing emotional patterns that developed early in life — often in response to unmet needs, chronic stress, or relational wounds.
These patterns, called schemas, influence how you think about yourself, relate to others, and navigate stress as an adult. I have laid out a handy guide to schemas and schema therapy here.
I'm a certified schema therapist in San Diego with advanced training through the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST), where I formerly served on the Executive Board. I'm also the author of Your Coping Skills Aren't Working (New Harbinger, 2023), a book on schema therapy and maladaptive coping patterns.
While I no longer practice schema therapy as a primary modality, I integrate schema-informed principles into my current work with Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR therapy — both of which offer more flexible, trauma-responsive approaches to the same underlying patterns schema therapy addresses.
What Schema Therapy Addresses
Schema therapy was developed to help people recognize and change deeply ingrained emotional patterns such as:
• Chronic feelings of defectiveness or unworthiness
• Fear of abandonment or rejection
• Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships
• Self-sacrifice or people-pleasing that leads to resentment
• Harsh self-criticism or punitive responses to mistakes
• Emotional shutdown or avoidance under stress
These patterns often developed as adaptations to early experiences — and schema therapy helps you understand where they came from and how they operate today.
My Background in Schema Therapy
I completed advanced certification in schema therapy and served as Secretary of the Executive Board for the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST).
My book, Your Coping Skills Aren't Working, applies schema therapy principles to help readers identify maladaptive coping patterns and develop healthier ways of meeting their emotional needs.
However, over the years, I've found that Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR therapy offer more accessible, compassionate, and trauma-responsive ways to work with the same core issues schema therapy addresses — without the some of the complicated moving parts and rigidity of schema therapy techniques.