ABSTRACT
Like the patients they treat, therapists often have early maladaptive schemas based on their own painful life experiences. Healing one's own schemas is excellent preparation for helping others. However, to the extent that these schemas remain unresolved, therapists can remain vulnerable to schema activation. This is, in fact, almost inevitable, as schema healing is rarely complete. At times of unusual stress, or when confronted with patients that ``push our buttons,'' one's schemas can become triggered. Usually, therapists have a Healthy Adult mode, aware of their own schemas, that can take corrective action when these schemas threaten to interfere with the treatment being given. In certain circumstances or with certain patients, however, this schema activation may cause more serious problems, especially when it is combined with unhealthy forms of coping.
