Schema Therapy for Clinicians
Schema therapy was built for the clients who understand their patterns perfectly and still can’t change them. This hybrid training gives clinicians a working command of schemas, modes, and schema-informed conceptualization — tools you can use in your next session.
Dr. Stafford is a licensed clinical social worker with advanced training in schema therapy and over five years of practical clinical application of the model. Her clinical work focuses on schema therapy with adults and emerging adults navigating complex trauma, attachment-based presentations, and personality vulnerability, and she develops continuing-education content for licensed and pre-licensed clinicians.
About this training
Schema therapy is one of the most powerful evidence-based models available to clinicians — and one of the most underrepresented in the continuing-education landscape. Developed by Jeffrey Young, it was designed for clients with chronic, deeply rooted difficulties: the people who understand their patterns perfectly and still cannot change them. This 4-hour live training is offered in a hybrid format, with in-person and live online (synchronous, via Zoom) participants attending the same session in real time. Across five structured segments, participants explore the five schema domains and all 18 early maladaptive schemas, identify the three coping styles and the 10 core schema modes, administer and interpret the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-R) and the Schema Mode Inventory (SMI), construct a schema-based case conceptualization, and begin integrating cognitive and behavioral schema-therapy techniques into clinical work. Designed for mental health practitioners at every stage of licensure — from pre-licensed practitioners to experienced independently licensed clinicians — the training weaves explicit scope-of-practice guidance and ethical considerations throughout. Participants leave with a solid clinical foundation in schema therapy and a clear roadmap for continued learning.
Five segments. One coherent arc.
From theoretical foundations through assessment, modes, intervention, and ethics — built as a single integrated training, not a tour of disconnected topics.
Schema Therapy Foundations
- Origins, theory, and integration with CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic models
- What is a schema; adaptive vs. maladaptive
- The role of attachment in schema development
- The 11 core emotional needs
- The five domains and all 18 early maladaptive schemas
- Clinical vignette: case recognition
Assessment & Case Conceptualization
- The Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-R)
- The Schema Mode Inventory (SMI)
- Schema-focused clinical interview skills
- Building a schema-based conceptualization
- Presenting the formulation to clients
Schema Coping Styles & Modes
- The three coping styles: surrender, avoidance, overcompensation
- How coping perpetuates the schema
- The 10 core schema modes and their clinical signatures
- Modes in the therapeutic relationship
Clinical Application
- Introducing the schema model to clients collaboratively
- Cognitive techniques: schema dialogues, evidence logs, reframing
- Behavioral techniques: pattern-breaking, experiments, homework
- Schema diaries & psychoeducation handouts
Ethical Considerations & Next Steps
- Common client reactions and how to meet them
- Working through resistance and rupture
- Ethics & scope-of-practice across licensure levels
- What requires additional training
- Pathways for continued development
What you'll be able to do
Upon successful completion of Schema Therapy for Clinicians, participants will be able to:
- Explain the theoretical foundations of schema therapy and distinguish it from related evidence-based clinical models including CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic approaches.
- Identify the five schema domains and accurately define all 18 early maladaptive schemas.
- Distinguish between the three primary schema coping styles and explain how each perpetuates underlying maladaptive schemas over time.
- Define schema modes and identify the 10 core modes as they are present in clinical material.
- Describe the purpose, structure, and clinical application of the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-R) and Schema Mode Inventory (SMI).
- Construct a preliminary schema-based case conceptualization using assessment data and clinical interview information.
- Apply introductory cognitive and behavioral schema therapy techniques within a treatment planning framework.
- Articulate the ethical obligations and scope-of-practice requirements for licensed and pre-licensed clinicians using schema therapy.
- Identify pathways for continued schema therapy training, supervision, and professional development.
How to earn your 4.0 CE hours
- Full attendance is required. Participants must attend the entire 240 minutes of instruction; partial credit is not awarded. In-person attendance is recorded by sign-in/sign-out; online participants attend live via Zoom, and attendance is verified by the Zoom participant report.
- Pass the post-test. A passing score of 80% (20 of 25 correct) is required to receive a Certificate of Completion.
- Retake policy. Participants who do not pass may retake the post-test one (1) additional time.
- Complete the evaluation. A course evaluation must be submitted before a certificate is issued.
A full clinical toolkit to take home
- Schema Domain Reference Guide
- Schema Mode Cheat Sheet
- Case Conceptualization Worksheet
- YSQ-R Scoring Key
- Certificate of completion (4.0 CE hours)
Bring schema therapy into your practice
Join clinicians across the region for a single day of clinically rigorous, scope-aware training — in person or live online — and leave with tools you'll use in your next session.
Register Now — 4.0 CE Hours →