ABSTRACT
Early Maladaptive Schemas form the foundation of the Schema Therapy model and have proved to be a powerful tool in organising and making sense of emotional pain and suffering. Much has been written about unmet emotional needs and the development of specific schemas but less attention has been given to the specific ‘antidotes’ to these unmet needs in our limited reparenting as therapists. Lockwood and colleagues have developed a broad theoretical framework that summarises therapeutic antidotes for each core unmet need, thought to help develop Positive Adapative Schemas. This expanded framework, among other things, offers guidance to therapists in how to respond to their patients’ unmet needs in a collaborative, therapeutic and clinically effective manner. Clinical examples are provided to demonstrate how this framework, when applied, can deepen and broaden the therapeutic process.
