ABSTRACT
The traditional cognitive model advanced by Beck proposed that emotions are often a consequence of the individual’s interpretation of events. For example, depressive emotions such as sadness, helplessness and hopelessness are viewed as a consequence of a negative view of self, the situation and the future. The Emotional Schema model recognizes the importance of this cognitive content but then extends the constructivist approach to assess the individual’s beliefs about their own emotions. For example, once a feeling of sadness arises, the individual may have beliefs that this sadness will last indefinitely, that it does not make sense, that it is unique to the self and that it is out of control. These interpretations of the emotion lead to other emotions—for example, hopelessness and helplessness—which can then lead to avoidance, giving up or impulsive behaviours such as substance abuse. These interpretations and the strategies that ensue are referred to as “emotional schemas”. Emotional schemas reflect the individual’s idiosyncratic theory of emotion.
