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  • INSPIRE 2026: Robert Brockman, Christopher Hayes and Wendy Behary in Thessaloniki

    INSPIRE 2026 is shaping up to be one of the major international Schema Therapy events of the year, bringing together clinicians, researchers and trainers from around the world in Thessaloniki, Greece. The conference programme covers a wide range of topics including trauma, attachment, embodiment, neurobiology, shame, couples work, autism, AI and the evolving Schema Therapy model.

    Robert Brockman and Christopher Hayes will both be attending and presenting at INSPIRE 2026. Rob Brockman will be co-presenting a pre-conference workshop alongside Wendy Behary titled All Roads Lead to the Critic: Uncovering and Healing the Central Dynamics of Shame, Guilt, and Self-Criticism in Schema Therapy. The workshop with Wendy Behary focuses on working with punitive, demanding and guilt-inducing critic modes, including how therapists can work more flexibly with shame, self-criticism and entrenched coping patterns.

    INSPIRE 2026 also features additional presentations from Wendy Behary across the conference programme, including workshops focused on covert narcissism and deliberate practice in Schema Therapy training.

    Christopher Hayes will also be presenting at INSPIRE 2026, contributing to discussions around trauma-focused Schema Therapy work and the integration of experiential approaches in complex clinical presentations.

    We’re looking forward to reconnecting with colleagues at INSPIRE 2026, hearing new ideas from across the Schema Therapy community and sharing reflections and updates after the conference.

  • DBT vs Schema Therapy: What the Latest Research Means for Therapists

    For many therapists working with borderline personality disorder, one question comes up again and again:

    Should this client receive DBT or Schema Therapy?

    In a recent episode of “What’s the Schemata”, Chris Hayes and Robert Brockman explored a new large randomised clinical trial comparing Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Schema Therapy for people with severe borderline personality disorder.

    Their conclusion was not a dramatic “winner takes all” result.

    It was more clinically useful than that.

    Both treatments worked.

    Both produced large improvements.

    Both appeared to maintain those gains after treatment ended.

    And perhaps most interestingly, the study raised deeper questions about how different therapies may help clients reach similar outcomes.

    No clear winner, but very good news

    The study compared DBT and Schema Therapy across multiple outpatient clinics in the Netherlands. Clients received two years of treatment, followed by a year of follow-up.

    Both treatments led to significant improvements in borderline personality disorder symptoms and other measures of wellbeing.

    Chris and Rob noted that this is important because DBT and Schema Therapy come from quite different clinical traditions. DBT is often more skills-based, focused on emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and reducing high-risk behaviour. Schema Therapy is more attachment-focused, working with unmet emotional needs, schemas, modes and the development of a stronger Healthy Adult.

    Yet in this trial, both pathways appeared to help.

    For clinicians, this is a useful reminder: effective therapy does not always need to look the same on the surface to create meaningful change.

    Skills, regulation and deeper emotional healing

    One of the most useful parts of the discussion was Chris and Rob’s comparison of the mechanisms behind each model.

    DBT may be understood as a more self-regulation model. The client learns skills, practises them, generalises them and uses them when emotions become overwhelming.

    Schema Therapy, by contrast, often begins as more of a co-regulation model. Through limited reparenting and the therapeutic relationship, the therapist helps the client experience emotional regulation, care and protection in vivo. Over time, the hope is that this becomes internalised as Healthy Adult functioning.

    This distinction matters clinically.

    Some clients may need immediate skills to manage crises, reduce self-harm or survive intense emotional storms. Others may be ready to explore the deeper emotional meanings underneath their patterns: shame, abandonment, mistrust, defectiveness or unmet childhood needs.

    The episode also raises a practical question: do therapists need to treat these models as competing, or can they learn from each other?

    Can DBT and Schema Therapy be integrated?

    Chris and Rob were careful not to reduce the discussion to “Schema Therapy versus DBT.”

    A more useful question may be:

    What does this client need, at this stage of treatment?

    For example, DBT skills may be helpful inside Schema Therapy when a client is highly distressed between sessions. Skills such as distress tolerance, grounding or temperature-based regulation may help reduce the intensity of a mode so the client can stay safe and return to deeper work.

    Equally, Schema Therapy may help explain why a client is not using a skill they already know. A Detached Protector, Angry Child, Punitive Parent or Vulnerable Child mode may be blocking access to the client’s healthier capacities.

    This is where the clinical conversation becomes interesting. DBT may help clients manage the storm. Schema Therapy may help them understand why the storm keeps forming.

    Both matter.

    Dropout and readiness for treatment

    The study also showed relatively high dropout rates across both treatments.

    Chris and Rob reflected on what this might mean. Was it the intensity of a two-year treatment? The group format? The severity of the client group? Readiness for change? Practical issues? Or, in some cases, did some clients leave because they had improved enough to return to work or life demands?

    The key point is that dropout should not be treated as a side issue. For services offering intensive treatment, readiness, preparation and fit may be just as important as the model itself.

    What should therapists take from this?

    The episode’s most practical message is that both DBT and Schema Therapy can be highly effective when delivered in a structured, consistent way by trained clinicians.

    For therapists choosing training pathways, DBT may be especially relevant for high-risk, crisis-heavy, emotionally dysregulated presentations. Schema Therapy may offer broader transdiagnostic value, particularly for personality disorders, entrenched patterns, trauma-related presentations and treatment-resistant clients.

    But the larger message is not about defending one model.

    It is about becoming more thoughtful in matching treatment to the client.

    Who needs skills first?

    Who needs attachment-based emotional repair?

    Who is ready to go deeper?

    Who needs more stabilisation before they can do that work?

    Chris and Rob unpack these questions in more depth in the full episode of What’s the Schemata. To listen, press play below.

  • Abandonment Schema: Why It’s Slower, Relational, and Easy to Misread

    The abandonment schema is one of the patterns therapists often find harder to work with, not because it’s rare, but because it doesn’t behave the way we expect. In a recent deep dive on What’s the Schemata, Chris Hayes and Rob Brockman explore why the abandonment schema can feel slow, less responsive to intervention, and at times even like therapy is going backwards. What emerges is not a problem of technique, but a mismatch between what therapists expect to see and what this schema actually requires.

    Why the Abandonment Schema Doesn’t “Shift” in the Usual Way

    One of the first places this becomes apparent is in experiential work. With many schemas, there is a moment where something shifts. The client softens, there is relief, and both therapist and client feel that something has landed. With the abandonment schema, that moment is often absent.

    Instead, the work can bring increased sadness, a lingering sense of distress, or a deeper awareness of loss that does not resolve quickly. It is easy at this point for therapists to assume they have missed something or done something incorrectly. In reality, the abandonment schema is often tied to unprocessed grief. Rather than creating a corrective emotional experience that brings immediate relief, therapy is opening access to something that has not been fully felt or processed before. The goal shifts from producing change in the moment to holding a process over time.

    The Abandonment Schema Is Also About Instability

    A second layer of complexity comes from how narrowly the abandonment schema is sometimes conceptualised. It is not only about being left. It is also about instability.

    Many clients do not present with a clear story of abandonment, but instead carry a persistent expectation that things will not hold. Their experience is shaped by inconsistency, disruption, or unpredictability in early environments. This might include repeated moves, changing caregivers, or a lack of reliable routines.

    The result is not just fear of loss, but a lack of internalised stability. When the abandonment schema is understood this way, the work becomes less about addressing a single event and more about working with an ongoing expectation about how relationships and environments function.

    The Therapy Relationship Becomes the Intervention

    Because of this, the therapy relationship becomes central in a different way. Consistency and predictability are not just good practice, they are active ingredients in the work.

    Showing up at the same time each week, maintaining clear boundaries, and being reliable in small ways begins to challenge the abandonment schema directly. At the same time, this consistency can activate the schema. Clients may withdraw as the relationship becomes more meaningful, become more demanding when they sense distance, or show anger when availability feels uncertain.

    These responses can easily be misread as resistance or disengagement. From a schema perspective, they are attempts to manage anticipated loss as it is happening in real time.

    How Coping Keeps the Abandonment Schema Goin

    The coping responses linked to the abandonment schema tend to reinforce the very pattern the client is trying to avoid.

    Attempts to secure connection through reassurance-seeking can overwhelm others. Avoidance prevents relationships from forming in the first place. Control strategies can destabilise the very connections the client is trying to preserve.

    This is where empathic confrontation becomes essential, not as a way to shut down behaviour, but as a way to make its function visible. The work is to help the client see that the coping makes sense given their history, while also gently highlighting how it maintains the pattern.

    Why Technique Alone Doesn’t Shift the Abandonment Schema

    Technique still matters, but expectations around technique need to shift. Experiential work may lead to grief rather than relief. Cognitive work can support understanding, but rarely drives change on its own.

    The abandonment schema sits primarily at an emotional and relational level, and it is through repeated relational experiences that it begins to shift. Over time, clients need to experience something different, not just think differently.

    Building Stability Outside the Therapy Room

    This is where behavioural work becomes particularly important. The abandonment schema does not fully shift without experiences of stability outside the therapy room.

    This might include developing more consistent routines, building environments that feel predictable, or maintaining relationships over time in a way that contradicts previous expectations. These experiences accumulate slowly, but they are what ultimately reshape the schema.

    Why Endings Matter in the Abandonment Schema

    Even the ending of therapy takes on a different role. With the abandonment schema, termination is not just a practical step, it is part of the treatment.

    Abrupt endings or poorly prepared transitions can reinforce the core belief that connection does not last. A gradual, explicit, and well-held ending can instead become part of the corrective experience, demonstrating that relationships can change form without disappearing.

  • Schema Therapy for Adolescents: What the Latest Research Is Starting to Show

    A recent review published in Frontiers in Psychology brings together more than two decades of research into schema therapy with adolescents. It’s not a definitive answer, but it does give something more useful for clinicians: a clearer direction.

    What stands out is not just whether schema therapy “works” with adolescents, but why this period matters so much. Adolescence is a window where schemas are still forming, still flexible, and often more visible in real time. The patterns we work with in adults are actively unfolding in younger clients.

    This changes the task.

    Rather than trying to undo something long established, the work becomes about recognising and shaping patterns early, before they become rigid.

    The review highlights that schema therapy is showing promising outcomes across a range of presentations, including anxiety, depression, and emerging personality difficulties. That in itself isn’t surprising. What is more interesting is how the therapy seems to need to adapt in delivery without losing its core structure.

    This aligns closely with what many clinicians already experience in the room.

    Working with adolescents rarely looks like traditional adult schema therapy. The model remains intact, but the entry points are different. Language shifts. Timing shifts. The way we engage modes shifts.

    And this is where the research starts to meet practice.

    One of the key themes in the paper is that early intervention may have a disproportionate impact. When schemas are still developing, there is more opportunity to expand options rather than dismantle defences. In practical terms, this often means less direct confrontation and more focus on building safety, flexibility, and alternative responses.

    It also reinforces something important: adolescent work is not just “adult schema therapy, earlier.”

    It is its own clinical task.

    The evidence base, however, is still developing. The review is clear that while findings are encouraging, there are still relatively few large-scale controlled studies. We do not yet fully understand the mechanisms of change, particularly how schema modes evolve during adolescence and how best to work with them over time.

    For clinicians, this creates an interesting position.

    We have enough evidence to move forward with confidence, but not so much that we can become rigid in how we apply the model. The opportunity is to stay close to both the theory and the lived experience of the young person in front of us.

    In many ways, this is where schema therapy is strongest.

    It allows us to understand behaviour in terms of function rather than surface presentation. What looks like resistance, withdrawal, or attitude often has a protective role. The task is not to remove it, but to understand it and work with it.

    This idea will feel familiar to anyone who has worked with adolescents for even a short time.

    If you want to explore this more deeply in a practical, applied way, features Graham Kell, who brings over two decades of youth work experience alongside accreditation in both adult and adolescent schema therapy. His approach focuses on how to actually engage adolescent modes in the room, including working with silence, using indirect “side doors” into emotion, and adapting the model in a way that remains faithful but developmentally appropriate.

    You can read more about his work and his new course here:
    https://www.schematherapytrainingonline.com/news-and-podcasts/schema-therapy-for-teenagers-introducing-graham-kell-on-working-with-adolescent-modes

    For clinicians already working in this space, the message is simple.

    This is not a future direction for schema therapy. It is already here.

  • Schema Therapy for Teenagers: Introducing Graham Kell on Working With Adolescent Modes

    We’re back with another episode of What’s the Schemata, the Schema Therapy podcast for therapists with ISST-accredited schema therapy supervisors and trainers Chris Hayes and Rob Brockman.

    This time, we’re joined by Graham Kell — a rare “unicorn” in the schema world, accredited in schema therapy for both adults and child/adolescent practice. With two decades of youth work behind him, plus lived experience parenting teens, Graham brings a grounded and practical perspective on how schema therapy for teenagers actually works in the room.

    If you’ve ever sat across from a teenager in a hoodie, eyes down, giving you very little, this episode will feel familiar.

    What This Episode Teaches About Schema Therapy for Teenagers

    In this candid and practical conversation, Graham unpacks why teen silence is rarely rudeness. More often, it’s vulnerability without language. In schema therapy for teenagers, the Detached Protector can look like disengagement, but underneath it is usually a young person trying to stay safe. Rather than confronting that head-on, Graham explains how to build safety first and how giving teens vocabulary for their internal states can slowly make the silence less necessary.

    He shares how he uses “side doors” into emotion through characters, memes, anime, books, music and pop culture. Instead of pushing for direct emotional disclosure, he invites teens to talk about a character first. This approach makes schema therapy for teenagers feel less exposing and more collaborative. It creates distance, lowers shame, and often opens the path to deeper work.

    The conversation also explores how to begin cognitively when needed and then gently shift into experiential work. The Detached Protector may tolerate logic before it tolerates closeness, and that sequencing matters. The model remains intact, but the delivery shifts. In effective schema therapy for teenagers, schemas might become “instincts” or “predictions”, modes might become a cast of characters, and parts work becomes story work. The formulation is still there, but the language feels developmentally aligned.

    Graham also speaks about the strengths-based nature of schema therapy for teenagers. Because schemas are still forming, there is a powerful opportunity to build pride in strengths early. When teens begin to see themselves as capable, the pull of unhealthy coping can weaken. It is less about removing protection and more about expanding the range of options available to them.

    Parent coaching is another key theme. When safe and appropriate, working with caregivers becomes central to change. In schema therapy for teenagers, helping parents respond to the mode rather than react to the moment can significantly reduce conflict at home. Graham introduces a simple CALM framework focused on curiosity, allowing feelings, limiting chaos and modelling regulation. Even small shifts in how a parent mirrors their teen can reshape how that teen sees themselves.

    The episode also addresses what happens when parents are not a resource. In those cases, schema therapy for teenagers shifts towards strengthening the adolescent’s coping capacity and autonomy. Rather than lowering the teen’s perception of the problem, the work often involves raising their confidence in their ability to manage it.

    Empathic confrontation with teens is handled carefully. Validation tends to run longer before confrontation is introduced. Metaphor often does the heavy lifting, whether that’s castle walls and drawbridges or animal instincts. Across the discussion, Graham makes clear that schema therapy for teenagers is not about correcting attitude, but understanding function.

    Throughout the episode, one message stands out: work with teen modes, not teen attitude. When we understand the purpose behind the behaviour, engagement becomes more possible and the work becomes more humane.

    Listen to the Podcast

    The full episode, Introducing Graham Kell on Schema Therapy for Teenagers, is available now on What’s the Schemata.

    Listen on your preferred podcast platform and explore how schema therapy can be thoughtfully and creatively adapted for adolescents.

    We’re back with another episode of What’s the Schemata, the Schema Therapy podcast for therapists with ISST-accredited schema therapy supervisors and trainers Chris Hayes and Rob Brockman.

    This time, we’re joined by Graham Kell — a rare “unicorn” in the schema world, accredited in schema therapy for both adults and child/adolescent practice. Graham brings two decades of youth work experience, the lived reality of parenting teens, and a grounded, practical understanding of what actually works in the room with adolescents.

    If you’ve ever sat across from a teenager in a hoodie, eyes down, giving you very little, this episode will feel familiar.

    What you’ll hear in this episode

    In this candid and practical conversation, Graham unpacks why teen silence is rarely rudeness. More often, it’s vulnerability without language. The Detached Protector might look like disengagement, but underneath it is usually a young person trying to stay safe. Rather than confronting that head-on, Graham explains how to build safety first and how giving teens vocabulary for their internal states can slowly make the silence less necessary.

    He shares how he uses “side doors” into emotion through characters, memes, anime, books, music and pop culture. Instead of pushing for direct emotional disclosure, he invites teens to talk about a character first. It creates distance, lowers shame, and often opens the path to deeper work.

    The conversation also explores how to begin cognitively when needed and then gently shift into experiential work. The Detached Protector may tolerate logic before it tolerates closeness, and that sequencing matters. The model doesn’t change, but the delivery does. Schemas might become “instincts” or “predictions”, modes might become a cast of characters, and parts work becomes story work. The formulation remains intact, but the language becomes youth-friendly.

    Graham speaks about the strengths-based nature of adolescent schema therapy. Because schemas are still forming, there’s a powerful opportunity to build pride in strengths early. When teens begin to see themselves as capable, the pull of unhealthy coping can weaken. It’s less about ripping away protection and more about expanding the range of options available to them.

    Parent coaching is another key theme. When safe and appropriate, working with caregivers becomes a central part of change. Graham describes helping parents respond to the mode rather than react to the moment. He introduces a simple CALM framework focused on curiosity, allowing feelings, limiting chaos and modelling regulation. Even small shifts in how a parent mirrors their teen can reshape how that teen sees themselves.

    The episode also doesn’t shy away from the complexity of when parents aren’t a resource. In those cases, the focus turns to strengthening the adolescent’s coping capacity and autonomy. Rather than lowering the teen’s perception of the problem, the work often involves raising their confidence in their ability to manage it.

    Empathic confrontation with teens is handled carefully. Validation tends to run longer before confrontation is introduced. Metaphor often does the heavy lifting, whether that’s castle walls and drawbridges or animal instincts. The aim is not to shame or corner the protector but to invite it to lower the drawbridge just enough.

    Throughout the conversation, one theme stands out: work with teen modes, not teen attitude. When we understand the function of the behaviour, engagement becomes more possible and the work becomes more humane.

    What’s the Schemata: Episode 61 with Graham Kell

    The full episode, Introducing Graham Kell and Schema Therapy for Adolescents, is available now on What’s the Schemata.

    Listen to the episode on your preferred podcast platform and explore how schema therapy can be thoughtfully and creatively adapted for adolescents.

  • A First in ISST Accreditation: A Full Rated Session Shared Publicly

    As far as we know, this is a first in ISST Accreditation history.

    Every therapist pursuing ISST certification must submit a full recorded session for formal review and competency rating. These sessions are assessed against ISST standards and are typically viewed only by the therapist and their designated supervisor. They are rarely — if ever — shared publicly.

    In our Inside the Room series, we decided to do something different.

    Over a decade ago, Remco van der Wijngaart rated one of Rob Brockman’s original certification tapes. For Session 6 of Inside the Room — Imagery Rescripting with Floatback: “Linking Present to Past” — Rob chose to revisit that experience. He recorded a new full session (with a simulated client, “Overcompensator Jason”) and asked Remco to formally rate it again using the same ISST Accreditation standards.

    What we are now sharing is the complete recorded session, alongside Remco’s full written feedback and competency ratings.

    This is not a polished demonstration or an edited highlight reel. It is a full-length submission assessed through the same process used in ISST Accreditation. It offers a rare opportunity to see what competency ratings actually look like — and how detailed supervisor feedback is structured.

    More than that, it offers something deeply human.

    Even for experienced therapists, submitting a tape for ISST Accreditation can be anxiety-provoking. The familiar themes often arise: perfectionism, fear of judgment, imposter feelings, and the pressure to perform at a high level in work that matters deeply. Revisiting the rating process more than twelve years after original certification highlights something central to professional development — we do not “arrive.” We refine. We deepen. We continue learning.

    By making this session public, we hope to bring transparency to the ISST Accreditation process and reassurance to those preparing their own submissions. Seeing a rated session in full can demystify the process and reduce the sense of isolation that often accompanies evaluation.

    How to Access – ISST Recorded Session

    Members can watch Session 6 in full and read the complete certification review inside the Inside the Room series.

    Everyone is welcome to access the written notes and feedback (without the recording) free of charge, below.

    STRSRemco1Download

    Remco Supervisor Qualitative Feedback on Recording for Therapist Rob
    Brockman on Client Jason “Session 6” rated October (2025)    Download

    If you are preparing for ISST Accreditation, supervising trainees, or simply curious about what formal competency review involves, we hope this resource provides both clarity and encouragement.

  • Remco Van Der Wijngaart “What’s the Schemata?” Episode 62

    In this episode of “What’s the Schemata” we chat with trainer, writer and Advanced Schema Therapist Remco van der Wijngaart (Netherlands) about how best to develop skills in Schema therapy, new developments within the model and perspectives on empathic confrontation.

  • What’s the Schemata? Episode 60 — A Deep Dive Into Chair Work with Chris Hayes

    Our latest episode of What’s the Schemata? is now live, and this one features Chris in a solo exploration of something that has become central to Schema Therapy practice: chair work and experiential mode work.

    In the episode, Chris talks through why chair work wasn’t emphasised in the early days of Schema Therapy, how it gradually became a core part of the model, and why so many therapists find it both powerful and challenging. He reflects on his own training, the influence of Dutch researchers and practitioners, and how experiential techniques have evolved over the past twenty years.

    Chris also spends time discussing those “tricky” clinical moments — the ones where chair work feels uncertain, unusual, or hard to navigate — and offers a grounded, practical sense of how he now uses it in his own sessions.

    If you’re interested in strengthening your experiential confidence or understanding how chair work really fits into the broader model, this episode is a thoughtful place to start.

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mVhjlt7KldflhBWfNqRnO?si=2AUpRNacT4asFWTaIzd2aw

  • Supporting Neurodivergent Clients Through Sensory PlanningSensory plan

    A CONNECT 2025 Conference Highlight — With Free Resource from Liam Spicer

    Working with trauma is never simple. For many clinicians, supporting clients who live with complex trauma—particularly those who are neurodivergent—requires therapy that is attuned, flexible, and deeply human. This year at the CONNECT 2025 Conference in Sydney, attendees were offered a rare opportunity to dive into this intersection through a powerful presentation by Liam Spicer, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Psychologist, EMDR Trainer & Consultant, Accredited Schema Therapist, and PhD candidate.

    Liam’s session, Schema Therapy and Neuro-divergent Clients, explored how clinicians can better understand the sensory, cognitive, and emotional experiences of Autistic and ADHD individuals engaged in Schema Therapy. As someone with his own lived experience with Autistism and ADHD, Liam brings not only professional expertise but also a deeply personal insight into what truly helps clients feel safe, seen, and supported.

    To accompany his presentation, Liam generously provided a free Sensory Planning resource (scroll down) for practitioners—a simple but impactful tool to help clinicians tailor sessions in ways that reduce overwhelm, increase safety, and enhance therapeutic connection.

    Why Sensory Planning Matters

    Many neurodivergent clients experience the world through heightened or fluctuating sensory input. Trauma can amplify this. Without careful sensory consideration, therapy environments can unintentionally create barriers to engagement—bright lights, unpredictable noises, unexpected transitions, or even the pacing of a session can trigger shutdowns or distress.

    Liam’s resource invites clinicians to pause and ask:

    • How can I adapt this space to be safer for sensory needs?
    • What signals does this client give when approaching overwhelm?
    • How can I collaborate with them to co-design a supportive environment?

    These simple questions can transform the therapeutic experience from tolerable to genuinely healing.

    Dr Robert Brockman, who co-hosted CONNECT 2025 and helped bring this presentation to attendees, reflected on Liam’s contribution:

    A Voice Grounding Theory in Humanity

    “Liam has a rare ability to translate complex concepts into practical, compassionate tools that clinicians can use immediately. His lived experience enriches his teaching in a way that reminds us what truly matters in therapy: safety, attunement, and connection.” — Dr Robert Brockman.

    This blend of academic expertise, clinical clarity, and authenticity is why Liam is such an important voice in the fields of Schema Therapy, EMDR, and neurodiversity-affirming practice.

    About Liam Spicer

    Liam has presented internationally across Europe, the U.S., and Asia on trauma, grief, Schema Therapy, Autism, ADHD, and EMDR. He coordinates Cairnmillar’s Postgraduate Certificate in Trauma-Informed Care, contributes to leading research—including work shaping Australia’s first MDMA-AP clinical guidelines for PTSD—and specialises clinically in supporting Autistic and ADHD adults through a neuroaffirming lens.

    He is also the Director of the Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia and continues to play an important role in advancing research and practice in this area.

    Watch the CONNECT 2025 Recordings

    If you missed the event – or want to revisit Liam’s session – all conference recordings can now be streamed here:

    courses.schematherapytrainingonline.com/p/connect2025

    Don’t forget to download the free Sensory Planning resource to support your work with neurodivergent clients.

    Sensory Plan Download

  • Schema Therapy Mastery Plus: What’s included?

    After months of development, ISST Schema Trainers Dr Robert Brockman and Dr Chris Hayes have unveiled what Dr Brockman calls “the biggest resource endeavour we’ve ever worked on.”

    The new Schema Therapy Mastery Plus membership brings together more than 40 hours of schema therapy training resources, including the landmark Inside the Room: The Schema Therapy Sessions video series — the first of its kind to offer full-length schema therapy sessions for professionals worldwide.

    “Chris Hayes and I have been really busy these past few months putting together a couple of massive resources for those interested in learning the schema therapy model,” says Dr Brockman. “This really puts it all together into one complete package — a full video series and an ongoing mastery subscription.”

    Step Inside the Room

    At the heart of the membership is the Inside the Room video series — twelve hours of in-depth therapy demonstrations filmed with professional actors and four accredited schema therapists: Dr Brockman, Dr Hayes, Claudia Mendes, and Sarah Hartley.

    “It’s a video series where we have over ten full-length schema sessions with accredited schema therapists and with actors,” Dr Brockman explains. “You get to sit, watch the tape, and reflect moment by moment on the therapist’s process.”

    Each case presents a unique clinical challenge:

    • Nikki – a detached, avoidant client
    • Jason – a “dominator” mode client struggling with anger and control
    • Jenny – a pseudo-vulnerable, complainer/ventilator mode client

    The series allows learners to see how different therapists work experientially — using mode dialogues, limited reparenting, chairwork, and empathic confrontation.

    “This is probably the biggest resource Chris and I have produced so far,” Dr Brockman adds. “It’s professionally recorded and designed to help you really see schema therapy in action.”

    The Schema Therapy Mastery Plus Membership

    For clinicians and trainees seeking a deeper, more structured learning experience, the new Schema Therapy Mastery Plus subscription provides full access to all current and future resources.

    “For only fifty dollars more than the standalone video series,” says Dr Brockman, “you get access to our complete vault — our webinars, skills videos, client handouts, and new resources as we release them. It’s all in one place.”

    Members receive:

    • Inside the Room full-length video series (12 hours CPD)
    • Schema Therapy Mastery Stream – ongoing skills videos and bite-sized webinars
    • Monthly Drop-In Q&As with Rob and Chris
    • Webinar Library – over 20 hours of recorded teaching with CPD certificates
    • Schema Therapist Community Forum for shared learning and discussion
    • Schema Therapy Vault™ – downloadable therapist guides, scripts, and client resources
    • ISST Accreditation Hub for certification materials
    • Supervisor Connection Hub – a directory of accredited supervisors worldwide
    • Priority Access to supervision groups, conferences, and case consultation opportunities

    “It’s for the schema therapy aficionados who want to get all the resources possible to master the model,” Dr Brockman explains. “And it’s especially useful for those working toward ISST accreditation.”

    Join Now

    The Schema Therapy Mastery Plus membership is a subsciption membership aimed to help therapist learn in a self-paced format. New resources are added regularly.

    Find out more https://courses.schematherapytrainingonline.com/p/schema-therapy-mastery-plus