Schema therapy was developed for chronic problems with roots in personality. The focus of treatment is not so much on the symptoms and presenting problems as on the maladaptive schemas underlying the problems. Schemas refer to knowledge representations, stored in memory, that steer information processing and help people make sense of their experiences. Maladaptive schemas are hypothesized to develop in childhood as a result of the interplay between the child’s [Page 2923]temperament and negative situational factors, such as trauma, insecure attachment, emotional neglect, and other events in the nuclear family or peer group. Schema therapy integrates viewpoints and techniques from the various schools into a comprehensive treatment. It uses cognitive, behavioral, and experiential channels to help patients, combining foci on childhood experience, therapeutic relationship, and ...