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.

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.

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.

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

If you work with Schema Therapy or are exploring tools for assessing early maladaptive schemas, the updated Young Schema Questionnaire – R (YSQ-R) is now available as a free, clinician-friendly package. This resource includes the latest Scorer Version 4.3, a newly released online scoring tool, and a 45-minute webinar hosted by Clinical Psychologist and researcher Oz Yalcin.

Free Resource and Webinar

This updated package reflects recent advances in schema assessment, including the inclusion of new schemas and psychometric refinements based on a Rasch analysis of 838 participants (Yalcin, Marais, Lee & Correia, 2021). Whether you’re using schema theory to inform treatment or research, this is a valuable opportunity to refine your understanding of one of the model’s most widely used measures.

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What’s in the Free Package

• The full YSQ-R (Young Schema Questionnaire – Revised)
• Scoring Template Version 4.3 with streamlined scoring instructions
• Client’s Guide to Schema Therapy for use in practice
• Access to the new online scoring tool
• A 45-minute recorded webinar presented by Oz Yalcin

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What the Webinar Covers

In this practical and research-informed session, Oz Yalcin walks through:

• How to administer and score the YSQ-R
• Clinical interpretation of schema profiles
• Use of the scoring key, including updated schema categories
• Integration of schema results into treatment planning
• Context around the development of the latest version, including new schema additions

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About Oz Yalcin

Ozgur Yalcin is a Clinical Psychologist and Director of ANIMA Health Network in Perth, Western Australia. He has worked in diverse psychiatric settings, taught at the postgraduate level, and published research in neuroscience and psychometric assessment. His PhD focused on the development and validation of the YSQ-R. Oz’s clinical work includes Schema Therapy, EMDR, and psychodynamic approaches for treating complex trauma, adult ADHD, and personality disorders. He also serves as the WA State Chair of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists.

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Why It Matters

The YSQ-R is more than an assessment form—it’s a core element of Schema Therapy that helps practitioners identify, understand, and work with the deep-rooted patterns shaping clients’ emotional lives. The latest version of this tool brings greater precision, accessibility, and clinical relevance, making it easier to use and more aligned with the realities of therapy practice today.

Whether you’re a psychologist, therapist, academic, or student, this updated resource offers a clear and practical way to deepen your Schema Therapy skills.

Access the full package and watch the free webinar: https://courses.schematherapytrainingonline.com/p/ysq-r

This resource is provided courtesy of Schema Therapy Training Australia.

What Is Schema Therapy?

By Chris Hayes and Robert Brockman

Schema Therapy (ST), developed by Jeffrey Young in the 1990s, is an integrative psychotherapy model designed to help people understand and heal long-standing emotional patterns. These patterns, known as early maladaptive schemas, often develop when core emotional needs aren’t met in childhood.

Rather than focusing only on symptom management, Schema Therapy targets the deeper beliefs and emotional experiences that shape our behaviours, relationships, and self-perceptions. It integrates elements from CBT, attachment theory, Gestalt techniques, and psychodynamic therapy to provide a rich and flexible framework for long-term change.

Some of the key techniques include:

• Limited reparenting – creating a safe space within the therapeutic relationship to meet unmet needs
• Imagery rescripting – transforming painful childhood memories into healing emotional experiences
• Chair work – facilitating dialogue between different modes or parts of the self

Through these methods, Schema Therapy offers both depth and structure—making it a valuable model for working with complex and treatment-resistant presentations.

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Why We Created Schema Therapy Training Online

We started Schema Therapy Training Online in 2019 with the goal of making high-quality Schema Therapy education more accessible for clinicians across the globe.

As two therapists based on opposite sides of Australia, we’ve always shared a passion for Schema Therapy and a belief in the importance of making learning flexible, practical, and engaging. After years of teaching together at workshops and international events, we launched this platform to support professionals looking to develop their skills—without needing to travel or take extended time away from practice.

Since then, we’ve developed a range of online courses, live workshops, and specialised programs, including our Imagery Rescripting School and the What’s the Schemata podcast.

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Why Study Online?

We’ve spoken to many clinicians, educators, and students about what draws them to online learning. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Flexibility – Learn at your own pace and revisit materials when it suits your schedule.
• Accessibility – No need to travel or rearrange work and personal commitments.
• Relevance – Courses designed to be directly applicable to clinical work.
• Scalability – Start small, build up your knowledge, and deepen skills progressively.

We aim to support you in making meaningful learning a part of your professional rhythm—without the overwhelm.

As Wendy Behary recently put it when talking about the Schema Therapy Solutions course:

“I described this course to ISST members as a sidecar for clients, helping them enhance their understanding of the model for mid-session support.”

We love this description and believe it applies equally to therapists—online learning can be a supportive companion throughout your Schema Therapy journey.

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Our Commitment to the Schema Therapy Community

In addition to our work through Schema Therapy Training Online, we’re both actively involved in the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) and currently serve on the ISST Executive Board for 2024–2026:

• Dr. Robert Brockman – President, ISST Executive Board
• Chris Hayes – Media Coordinator, ISST Executive Board

We remain dedicated to helping shape the future of Schema Therapy, not only through teaching and training, but through advocacy, research, and community-building.

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Explore Our Courses

Whether you’re just beginning your Schema Therapy journey or looking to go deeper into specific areas, we offer a range of training options to suit your learning style and clinical focus.

Browse all courses

Thanks for being part of this growing learning community.

By Chris Hayes & Rob Brockman

If you’ve ever downloaded one of our clinical guides—like the recent Responding to “But That Wasn’t Real!!!” During or After Imagery Rescripting—you’ll know we’re passionate about creating practical, therapist-friendly tools that speak to the real moments you face in session.

Well… we’ve been quietly working on something much bigger behind the scenes. And we’re finally ready to share a little peek.

Introducing: The Schema Therapist Resource Vault©

Coming soon, the Vault will be a membership-based online hub packed with high-quality, mode-informed resources designed specifically for working schema therapists. Whether you’re new to schema therapy or a seasoned clinician, the Vault is built to support your clinical confidence, creativity, and clarity.

Think of it as your go-to companion for sessions, supervision, and self-study.

Find helpful resources, like our Schema Therapy Hacks series.

What You Can Expect

We’re curating and creating:

• Downloadable tools: clinical cheat sheets, language prompts, worksheets, and transcripts
• Video demonstrations: real examples of techniques like imagery rescripting, chairwork, and empathic confrontation
• Case formulation help: step-by-step examples of schema and mode maps with treatment strategies
• Live Q&As and micro-trainings: regular member events to help you stay sharp and supported

Why We’re Building This

We know what it’s like to be in the therapy room—facing client resistance, navigating emotional stuckness, trying to keep the big picture in mind while responding in the moment. We also know how often therapists tell us, “I just wish I had something I could glance at between sessions or share with a supervisor.”

The Vault is our way of answering that.

Be the First to Know

We’re not quite ready to open the doors yet, but if you want to be among the first to get early access (and maybe even some pre-launch bonuses), make sure you’re on our email list. Downloading the Imagery Rescripting guide is a great place to start if you haven’t already.

The Schema Therapist Resource Vault© is coming.
We can’t wait to open it for you.

We’re thrilled to announce Schema Therapy Connect 2025—a one-day in-person mini conference bringing together clinicians, researchers, and practitioners from across Australia to connect, learn, and deepen their Schema Therapy practice.

Whether you’re just starting your Schema Therapy journey or you’re an advanced-level therapist looking to sharpen your skills, this day is designed to offer practical, cutting-edge insights to take back to your clinical work.

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📅 Event Details

Date & Time:
Friday, November 7, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Venue:
Rydges Hotel
28 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010

Ticket Prices:
Early Bird: $179 (includes lunch & refreshments) – Available until August 1, 2025
Standard Ticket: $229

→ Register and Pay Now

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Confirmed Presenters & Topics

We’ve curated a diverse lineup of speakers addressing key clinical populations, practical techniques, and emerging areas in Schema Therapy:

• Graham Kell (QLD)
  Not Just Small Adults: Adapting Schema Therapy for Adolescents
  Learn how to tailor your approach for younger clients with real-world strategies from an Advanced Child & Adolescent Schema Therapist.
• Tena Davies (VIC)
  Chairwork to Increase Motivation for Change
  Bring your clients’ internal dialogues to life and break through stuck modes with powerful chairwork interventions.
• Ben Callegari (VIC)
  Coming Out with Schema Therapy: Working With Gender and Sexual Diversity
  Explore affirming, schema-informed approaches to support LGBTQIA+ clients.
• Sarah Dominguez (NSW)
  Integrating Imagery Rescripting to Boost Trauma-Informed Practice
  Strengthen your trauma work by deepening your use of imagery in safe and reparative ways.
• Tracey Hunter (QLD)
  Identifying the Pathways for Positive Schema Development
  Focus not only on healing the past—but on actively cultivating new, healthy schemas.
• Dr. Lars Madsen (QLD)
  Bulletproofing the Healthy Adult Mode: Limited Reparenting in High-Stakes Contexts
  Deepen your understanding of how to strengthen the Healthy Adult in complex therapeutic situations.
• Liam Spicer (TAS)
  Understanding Early Maladaptive Schemas in Autistic and ADHD Individuals
  Shift the narrative and enhance your Schema Therapy practice with neurodivergent clients.

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Why Attend?

• Get face-to-face learning with Australia’s leading Schema Therapists
• Expand your toolbox with practical, evidence-informed techniques
• Connect with like-minded clinicians from across the country
• Walk away feeling re-energised, skilled-up, and ready to integrate

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Spots are limited, and Early Bird pricing ends August 1, 2025—so don’t wait to secure your place.

→ Register  courses.schematherapytrainingonline.com/p/connect2025

If you use imagery rescripting in your Schema Therapy practice, you’ve likely heard a client say something like:

“But that didn’t really happen. That’s not real.”

It’s a powerful moment—one that can derail the session or open the door to meaningful emotional healing, depending on how we respond.

In this blog, we’ll walk through a step-by-step framework you can use to respond compassionately and effectively when clients push back on the emotional reality of imagery work. You’ll also find sample language, an optional metaphor, and a full therapist transcript to help you ground this in your own voice.

Download the Free Resource here.

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Why Clients Resist Imagery

Clients often come out of a rescripting experience with deep emotions—and sometimes, deep confusion. They may intellectually understand the exercise, but emotionally, it can feel jarring:

• “It’s not what happened.”
• “You weren’t there.”
• “That’s a lie.”

These responses aren’t wrong. They’re protective. And they’re invitations to slow down and help the client integrate what just happened.

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A Step-by-Step Framework to Respond

1. Validate the Client’s Reality
Start by acknowledging the truth in their observation.

“You’re right. That didn’t happen in real life. It’s completely valid to say that.”

2. Acknowledge the Limits of Therapy
Be honest and clear: therapy doesn’t rewrite history.

“Nothing we do here can change what actually happened to you.”

3. Reframe the Aim of Imagery Rescripting
Shift the focus from facts to emotional repair.

“The goal isn’t to change the past. It’s to help that younger part of you feel safe, seen, and less alone—now.”

4. Link Present-Day Struggles to the Past
Use mode language to connect their present distress to unresolved childhood trauma.

“Even now, little Jenny still feels scared when she’s on a train or in a crowd.”

5. Justify the Use of Imagery
Normalize imagination as a therapeutic tool.

“We’re using imagery to give that younger part something she never got: protection, care, validation.”

6. Emphasize Emotional Learning
Help the client understand that while history can’t change, emotional responses can.

“We’re not rewriting facts—we’re changing how those memories feel.”

7. Invite Reflection and Integration
Ask what part of the experience (if any) felt soothing or meaningful.

“Did any part of you feel even a little comforted during that?”

8. If Resistance Continues – Look for a Coping Mode
Persistent resistance may indicate a blocking mode at play. You’ll need to engage with that mode before continuing with imagery work.

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Optional Metaphor: The Broccoli Analogy

Some clients benefit from metaphor to make sense of emotional dissonance:

“It’s like trying broccoli for the first time when you’re used to eating chips. It feels weird—but it might be what your body actually needs.”

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Sample Therapist Language

Here’s a full sample response you might adapt in-session:

“Okay, Jenny… I think I need to apologize. When you say, ‘That’s not real,’ I wonder if I haven’t explained this well enough. Because you’re absolutely right—what we did in imagery didn’t happen in real life. Nothing we do here can change that history, and I want to honour what you went through.”

“This exercise isn’t about pretending it didn’t happen or rewriting your story. It’s about helping little Jenny—the part of you still carrying the fear and pain—realize she’s no longer alone. We can’t change the facts, but we can work on how those facts live in your body. That’s what we’re doing here.”

“We’re helping her feel seen. Safe. Protected. And that’s what starts to shift how these memories affect you today.”

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Free Resource Download: Imagery Rescripting

Imagery rescripting can be one of the most healing interventions in Schema Therapy—but only if clients feel safe and understood throughout the process.

When a client says, “But that wasn’t real,” it’s not a failure. It’s a moment of truth. With the right response, it can be the very turning point that helps them take the work deeper.

Download the free resource.

We hope this framework supports you in navigating those moments with confidence, compassion, and clinical clarity.

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Want more tools like this?
Explore our full training library at SchemaTherapyTrainingOnline.com.

—
© Chris Hayes & Rob Brockman, 2024
You’re welcome to share this article with colleagues—please credit the original source.

New Research: Efficacy of Imagery Rescripting

What is ImRs?

Imagine being able to not only revisit and confront distressing memories but to also reshape their course in a way that satisfies your present basic needs. This is precisely what ImRs aims to accomplish.

ImRs represents a significant breakthrough in the field of mental health, offering a means to transform the meaning associated with powerful aversive memories. The impact of such memories extends far beyond the past, as they influence our current and future behavior, playing a pivotal role in the development and persistence of various mental disorders. Whether we consider adverse childhood experiences or the challenges of adulthood, the way we process and represent these events can lead to intrusive memories, avoidance behaviors, and dysfunctional memory appraisals, all contributing to the maintenance of psychological symptoms.

This approach holds relevance not only for conditions like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but also for a range of other disorders, including depression and social anxiety disorder. The foundation of ImRs lies in the reconsolidation hypothesis, which suggests that previously consolidated memories can be brought back into an active state, allowing for the reinforcement, reduction, or update of their content and associated emotions. It’s important to note that ImRs doesn’t involve replacing original memories with false ones but rather focuses on creating more functional meanings.

The impact of ImRs extends to reducing negative self-beliefs and enhancing feelings of mastery and self-efficacy, bringing about a positive transformation in one’s emotional landscape. This versatile technique can be applied either as a stand-alone intervention or in combination with other treatments, seamlessly integrating into various cognitive behavioral therapies and schema therapy.

Two distinct approaches to ImRs have emerged, one involving cognitive preparation to challenge dysfunctional interpretations of traumatic memories and the other emphasizing the experiential aspect, where the new script is based on spontaneous needs and action tendencies during the imagery. Surprisingly, there has been no direct comparison of these two approaches, leaving room for exploration.

While several trials have explored the efficacy of ImRs in treating various mental disorders, a comprehensive meta-analysis is needed to provide a clearer picture of its impact. With a growing body of research in this field, we aim to conduct an updated meta-analysis, focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effectiveness of ImRs compared to control conditions or other psychological treatments. By doing so, we hope to shed light on the true potential of ImRs in reducing psychological complaints and improving mental well-being.

Suicide and Schema Therapy

By Robert Brockman

Jenny looks up at me… slightly teary… but now with a more determined, even steely look in her eye.

“Well, if I can’t escape this pain … then I guess I’ll have to kill myself… there’s no point being here…”

Most schema therapists will know what it’s like to work with clients like Jenny who are at the end of their tether in trying to cope with their ’emotional pain’. Most of us don’t escape living without some form of emotional pain, but for many clients, especially those with problems managing suicidal impulses, this emotional pain can feel more than they can tolerate.

Therapists can of course feel the weight of trying to help someone find a way through their (emotional) pain towards a life worth living. This week is Suicide Awareness Week, and it got me thinking about a question often asked at Schema Therapy training events…

What about Schema Therapy and Suicide?

Understanding such pain and the dynamics of disclosing suicidal ideation can be complex and varied from person to person. However, such behaviour can be interpreted through the schema mode lens. Clients like this, in referring to their ‘pain’, are referring to parts of themselves – modes – that hold the trauma and schemas that, when activated, are experienced as distressing and emotionally overwhelming – ‘painful’.

When suicidal behaviours are present, it may be helpful for the Schema Therapist to consider one or more of the following modes involved in inciting the client to harm themselves.

Common Modes in Suicidal Behavior

Vulnerable Child > Helpless Surrenderer: At the centre of a suicidal “headspace” is the vulnerable child mode. Here, the client may feel a profound helplessness and hopelessness towards their pain and emotional suffering. “I can’t cope/ do anything”.

Vulnerable Child > Connection Seeker: A drive for connection-seeking drives the client towards seeking help and connection from others to distract or regulate the pain. The client’s core need for attention and care is evident, but in this Mode, the client is unable to seek connection and support in healthy ways.

Punitive Inner Critic: So often driving the emotional pain alongside the vulnerable child the punitive critic kills off any remaining hope or energy for change “no-one could ever love you anyway…”

Angry Child Mode: Here, the client feels a deep resentment and anger towards others around them and their predicament: “screw this life”. Such deep frustration can increase risk, with the client spiralling towards impulsively acting on such notions.

Self-Soother Mode: Tempts clients to act compulsively to distance themselves from the pain. It tends to often be more superficial in nature (e.g. non-suicidal self-injury, cutting, etc.) but can be dangerous in terms of the level of impulsivity.

The Detached Protector: A client in this Mode operates in an emotionally detached and numb way, fixating on the option of “ending it”. They may take an extremely pragmatic and remote view of the circumstances at hand and numb the meaning and importance of intimate relationships of others around them.

Compliant Surrenderer: Clients who struggle with suicidal ideation coming from this Mode are always a concern. They may say, “I need to do this for my loved ones because I am such a burden”. This kind of thing is always gut-wrenching to hear – that they feel their loved ones would be better off.

The difficulty with therapy is that we seek to lead our clients through their emotional pain. Our aims are to heal and assist them in getting their core emotional needs met. We may ultimately be teaching a better way to manage and regulate emotions – their pain. But this means getting them on board and convincing their coping modes to give therapy a shot. Ultimately, we have to balance the risk of ‘going there’ (in therapy) with the risk of not.