Creating a Favorable Therapy Schema

Abstract

A model is proposed for facilitating a successful therapeutic outcome via creation and maintenance of a positive Therapy Schema in the client. Such a schema is constructed from three components: 1) the client's prior experience with therapy, 2) the client's expectations about the therapeutic experience, and 3) the client's cognitive style. Literature on cognitive style as it relates to therapy and to enhancing client expectations is discussed. It is recommended that practicing therapists make more use of non-specific treatment factors and techniques of pre-therapy training to enhance client expectations and reduce premature termination from therapy.The schema concept in cognitive psychology has fostered some debate; however, there seems to be consensus on certain aspects [1] : schemas are cognitive structures used in information processing and retrieval. They are created and modified by experience, and each may include a prototypical event to which variations are compared. They are relatively stable over time. New information is usually assimilated into an existing schema rather than the schema being drastically changed to accommodate new data. They allow one to make inferences when knowledge is incomplete or ambiguous, and therefore enable the perceiver to better predict, and hence, control, present and future events. Taylor and Crocker summarize the functions of schemas as enabling the perceiver to "identify stimuli quickly, 'chunk' an appropriate unit, fill in information missing from the stimulus configuration and select a strategy for obtaining further information, solving a problem, or reaching a goal." [2, p. 7] This article will attempt to describe, both theoretically and empirically, a particular schema, as well as its behavioral counterpart. The schema to be discussed involves psychotherapy and shall henceforth be referred to as the 15