Schema Therapy: Beyond the Basics for ADHD with Emma DeCicco

Dr Emma DeCicco and Johanna discuss schema therapy and providing neuro-affirming therapy. Emma shares her personal journey with ADHD and how it has influenced her work as a psychologist. They discuss the importance of understanding core needs and how they relate to schemas and modes in schema therapy.

The conversation explores the concept of schemas and coping modes in the context of neurodivergent individuals. It discusses how neurodivergent individuals may have different expectations and ways of functioning compared to neurotypical individuals. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding and accepting these differences rather than trying to conform to neurotypical norms. It also emphasizes the need for sustainable coping strategies and the potential impact of medication on coping modes. The inner critic is identified as a common coping mode for neurodivergent individuals. In this conversation, Emma and Johanna discuss the different modes in schema therapy, including critic modes, healthy modes, coping modes, and vulnerable modes.

They also discuss the concept of self-compassion and how it can be integrated into schema therapy. Emma shares information about the neurodiversity affirming schema therapy model and resources available for clinicians and individuals interested in learning more.

Keywords

bios, disingenuous, schema therapy, neuro-affirming therapy, ADHD, psychologist, core needs, schemas, modes, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, schemas, coping modes, neurodivergent, neurotypical, expectations, functioning, differences, acceptance, sustainable coping, medication, inner critic, schema therapy, modes, critic modes, healthy modes, coping modes, vulnerable modes, self-compassion, neurodiversity affirming, neurodivergent, therapy model

Sound Bites

"You can have the most pristine, amazing looking cake ever. And for a neurodivergent person, like as we were saying at the beginning, it might be heavily masked and it's not sustainable and they're using all their ingredients every single day and then they're going to end up with nothing left."

"We want to understand when we're masking, we want to understand why and how it's either helpful or not helpful and then be selected exactly, be selected and how we're using that so that we don't end up completely burning out or losing our sense of self along the way."

"We've got different categories of modes... critic modes, healthy modes, coping modes, and vulnerable modes."

"These critic modes make predictions around what other people are going to think about us or how they might treat us in order to keep us safe."

"We're starting to bring a lens of self-compassion to these experiences and starting to really learn different ways to interact with ourselves and therefore the environment as well."