At the heart of Schema Therapy is a simple truth: every child has basic emotional needs, and when those needs aren’t met, we adapt in the only ways we know how.

As children, we rely on our caregivers to give us things like safety, love, attention, validation, freedom to explore, and guidance. When those needs are consistently met, we grow up with a solid foundation: we believe the world is mostly safe, that we are lovable, and that we have value.

But when these needs are not met, through neglect, criticism, trauma, chaos, or even well-meaning but emotionally unavailable parenting, our brains and bodies find workarounds. We form schemas, deeply rooted beliefs and emotional patterns that help us make sense of the world and keep us safe.

For example:

  • A child who’s frequently criticised may develop the Defectiveness schema, believing, “Something’s wrong with me.”

  • A child who grows up in chaos or with absent caregivers may form an Abandonment schema, believing, “People will always leave me.”

  • A child who never gets their feelings acknowledged may carry an Emotional Deprivation schema, believing, “No one will ever meet my needs.”

These schemas are like emotional “truths” that live in our nervous system, not just our thoughts. As adults, we often keep running these same survival strategies long after they’ve stopped serving us. That’s why the patterns feel so hard to break.

Schema Therapy helps us:

  • Identify which schemas are driving our thoughts and behaviours.

  • Understand where they came from and how they once helped us survive.

  • Heal the wounds beneath them by meeting the needs that were never met.

  • Build a healthier, more compassionate “Adult” self that can take the lead.

Here's a full list of the 18 early maladaptive schemas identified in Schema Therapy, grouped into their five broad domains. Each schema represents an unmet core emotional need in childhood and influences adult patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

1. Disconnection & Rejection

These schemas relate to unmet needs for security, safety, nurturance, and belonging.

  • Abandonment / Instability
    Belief that close relationships are unstable, unreliable, or will end abruptly.

  • Mistrust / Abuse
    Expectation that others will hurt, abuse, lie, manipulate, or take advantage of you.

  • Emotional Deprivation
    Belief that your emotional needs (nurturance, empathy, protection) will not be met by others.

  • Defectiveness / Shame
    A deep sense of being flawed, bad, unlovable, or fundamentally not good enough.

  • Social Isolation / Alienation
    Feeling different from others, not belonging, or being fundamentally alone.

2. Impaired Autonomy & Performance

These schemas arise when the child’s needs for independence and competence were not supported.

  • Dependence / Incompetence
    Belief that you’re incapable of handling everyday responsibilities without help.

  • Vulnerability to Harm or Illness
    Exaggerated fear that catastrophe is imminent e.g. illness, financial ruin, accidents.

  • Enmeshment / Undeveloped Self
    Feeling overly connected or emotionally fused with another person (often a parent); lack of individual identity.

  • Failure
    Belief that you are fundamentally inadequate or will inevitably fail compared to others.

3. Impaired Limits

These schemas are linked to difficulties with self-discipline and respecting others' boundaries.

  • Entitlement / Grandiosity
    Belief that you’re superior to others or entitled to special rights or privileges.

  • Insufficient Self-Control / Self-Discipline
    Difficulty tolerating frustration or resisting impulses; tendency to avoid discomfort.

4. Other-Directedness

These schemas involve prioritising others' needs over your own, often to gain approval or avoid conflict.

  • Subjugation
    Chronic surrendering of control to others due to fear of punishment, abandonment, or conflict.

  • Self-Sacrifice
    Excessive focus on meeting others’ needs at the expense of your own; guilt if you don’t.

  • Approval-Seeking / Recognition-Seeking
    Overemphasis on gaining acceptance, admiration, or attention from others at the cost of authenticity.

5. Overvigilance & Inhibition

These schemas reflect the suppression of feelings and impulses in favour of rules and standards.

  • Negativity / Pessimism
    Tendency to focus on the negative aspects of life while discounting the positive.

  • Emotional Inhibition
    Belief that expressing feelings will lead to rejection, shame, or loss of control.

  • Unrelenting Standards / Hypercriticalness
    A relentless drive to meet high internalised standards, often at the expense of wellbeing.

  • Punitiveness
    Belief that mistakes should be harshly punished by yourself or others.