ABSTRACT
Mode work builds on the various tools we have presented, but particularly on the emotion-focused techniques of dialogues and imagery.
Dialogues in mode work
The ``schema dialogue'' is the simplest form of role-play used by schema therapists. Therapists ask patients to play the side of their schemas and then switch chairs to assume the role of the Healthy Adult. The Healthy Adult challenges the patient's schema side, using arguments and evidence that counter the schema side's distorted views. This method shares much in common with the cognitive therapy technique known as ``collaborative empiricism,'' in which patient and therapist work together to test the validity of the patient's beliefs (Segal & Shaw, 1996). However, because it is also an experiential technique, the schema dialogue has the advantage of activating the patient's schemas, which, as noted above, enhances its effectiveness.
