Schema Therapy

Schema therapy is one of the evidence-based psychological approaches that we at Cassiobury Court provide as part of our personalised addiction treatment programme.

It is a type of therapy that is focused on looking at deeply established patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. Schema therapy looks at how these influence key aspects of life, including relationships, coping and responses to difficult situations.

Schema therapy for addiction treatment can be helpful to some, as it may help some people understand how these patterns contribute to their substance abuse.

What Is Schema Therapy?

In psychology, a schema is a deep-rooted pattern or theme about yourself, other people or relationships. Ones that are negative tend to evolve from early experiences, becoming deeply held outlooks or beliefs that influence behaviour and emotions again and again throughout your life.

Common schemas include feeling incompetent compared to others, thinking no one cares about you or believing others will hurt or reject you.

The aim of schema-focused therapy is to help you recognise these negative patterns and change them into something positive.

How Can Schemas Affect Addiction and Recovery?

Schemas are deep-seated beliefs about yourself, others and situations. This can impact substance abuse because if you hold beliefs such as thinking that difficult feelings are intolerable or that you expect rejection and abandonment, you’ll likely do something to cope with these issues.

Some respond to the difficult emotions that these situations bring up by acting impulsively. This impulsivity could lead to you drinking or taking drugs as a coping mechanism. It can offer immediate relief, becoming part of the pattern that becomes linked to these schemas, leading to repeated substance abuse and addiction.

What Happens During Schema Therapy?

The goal of schema therapy for drug or alcohol addiction is to identify these schemas, look at the situations in your life when they appear and recognise the unhealthy coping styles you are using.

If you get a clearer idea of how schemas are affecting current behaviour, you can start to restructure thinking patterns and develop better responses.

Schemas and Coping Modes

The two major terms you’ll come across are schemas and coping modes. We’ve explored what schemas are. Coping modes are the way you react when schemas become activated.

Common coping modes include:

• Avoidance – You escape or disconnect from the situation, people, feelings, or memories that activate schemas.

• Surrender – You believe the negative belief is true.

• Overcompensation – You fight back against the schema, holding the opposite belief tightly.

These can lead to unhealthy coping methods. Schema therapy helps you recognise them and form more adaptive responses.

Schema Therapy for Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Schema therapy can help with drug and alcohol addiction by helping you recognise patterns that lead to substance use. If you get to the root of issues, you can see how they are impacting you now, making it easier for you to recognise potential emotional and situational triggers.

With this knowledge, you can plan and make changes. At the same time, you can also explore how these deeply held beliefs are making change difficult.

Practically, schema therapy can help you develop healthier coping strategies, which can support relapse prevention.

If your schemas are related to relationships, this type of therapy could help with improving your communication, emotional regulation and creating boundaries, perhaps leading you to cut negative influences or strengthen bonds.

Schema Therapy at Cassiobury Court

At Cassiobury Court, schema therapy is part of a wider residential addiction treatment programme.

Before beginning treatment, you’ll go through an initial medical, psychological and physical health assessment. With this assessment, we’ll get a clearer idea of your individual needs and risks, forming a personalised care plan that suits you and your recovery goals.

If you partake in schema therapy, you’ll likely do it alongside other therapeutic approaches.

With us, your personalised treatment plan will be developed within 24–48 hours of admission, ensuring no time is wasted.

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Schema Therapy Compared with CBT and DBT

These are three types of therapies you may come across during addiction recovery.

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – Has a focus on the link between current thoughts and feelings and how that is influencing your behaviour.

• Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) – Is focused on dealing with more intense emotional instability, working on emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness and interpersonal skills.

• Schema therapy – Looking at longer-term patterns, beliefs and how you respond to these.

These therapies can be complementary to one another, with a therapy like DBT giving you the skills to handle emotional crises whilst the skills in CBT could help you again and again as you explore deeper issues in schema therapy.

Meet Our Team

Our team includes experienced counsellors, psychologists, and medical professionals specialising in addiction treatment and mental health. We are passionate about helping people overcome addiction and achieve their goals for a healthier and happier life.

We hold the highest professional standards here at our CQC-registered rehab centre. Our fully trained GPs, Physchiatristes, Support Workers, Counsellors and Mental Health Nurses can deliver a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.

View All Team Members

• 

  Raffa Bari

  CQC Registered Manager View Bio
• 

  Dr Mosun

  Consultant Psychiatrist and Addictions Specialist View Bio
• 

  Dr Ola Otulana

  GP and Addiction Specialist Physician View Bio
• 

  Alison Hipwell

  Deputy Manager (Operations Officer) View Bio
• 

  Jane Pearce

  Deputy Manager (Clinical Lead) View Bio

Who May Benefit from Schema Therapy?

Schema therapy for alcohol or drug addiction may be helpful to you if you:

• Notice repeated unhelpful relationship patterns
• Experience strong emotional reactions that feel difficult to understand
• Hold persistent negative beliefs about yourself or others
• Use alcohol or drugs in response to these recurring patterns
• Have struggled to maintain behavioural changes despite previous treatment

This approach is not right for everyone, and suitability will be informed by an assessment before treatment begins.

Schema Therapy as Part of Long-Term Recovery

Schema therapy can help in the long term because if you recognise patterns earlier, it lessens the risk of them recurring. You need to get to the bottom of substance abuse issues, and schema therapy can help with that.

You’ll develop coping skills, apply the insights you learn outside of therapy, hopefully improving your life and navigating potential hurdles beyond rehab with stronger relapse prevention planning.

Cassiobury Court will help you with recovery planning beyond our centre, helping you connect to groups including AA, CA and NA during treatment so that you have the beginnings of a strong support network upon leaving.

Start Schema Therapy at Cassiobury Court

At Cassiobury Court, schema therapy is just one of several available approaches we employ as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. The treatment you receive with us will be personalised, informed by an assessment that considers a wide array of factors.

Contact our admissions team today on 08000014070 for a confidential talk about schema therapy, other treatment options and what the next steps are.

What addictions do we treat?

Our Private Treatment Services combine comfortable, quality accommodation; with outstanding therapy programmes that are proven to support your recovery from addiction.

Drug Rehab

At Cassiobury Court, we offer a residential rehab service for drug addiction at our London rehab centre. We provide comprehensive treatment programmes, expert medical and psychiatric staff, and a way forward for those seeking sobriety. Our treatment programmes are directed by medical professionals who ensure a completely safe and therapeutic environment for our clients. Each addiction […]

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Alcohol Rehab

You can trust us to provide you with the very best care to get you back on the road to sobriety. To discuss treatment options available to you at our alcohol rehab centre, contact a member of our admissions team by filling out our contact form or by calling us on 01923 369 161. Personalised Alcohol Rehab […]

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Prescription Drug Rehab

Prescription drug addiction is an escalating issue in the UK, with millions of patients receiving medications with a risk of dependency each year. In England in 2025-2026, 96 million antidepressant items were prescribed to an estimated 9.1 million identified patients. The rise in prescription drug addiction proves to be a growing concern that demands effective […]

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Cocaine Rehab

Cassiobury Court is a specialist residential cocaine rehab centre for adults aged 18 and over. If cocaine is affecting your health, relationships, work or finances, our cocaine rehab programme combines medically managed detox where needed, personalised psychological therapies and compassionate multidisciplinary support, with a personalised care plan developed within 24 to 48 hours of admission. […]

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View all addictions we treat

View All Addictions