Schema Therapy Intensive in Ontario

• A 2-session Schema Therapy Intensive provides dedicated time to understand the recurring patterns shaping how you relate to yourself and others. During the process, clients may:

  • Identify key schemas, emotional needs, triggers, and coping styles
  • Understand how these patterns developed and why they continue to repeat
  • Recognize how patterns influence relationships, self-worth, emotions, and everyday choices
  • Gain insight into recurring dynamics across dating, family, friendships, or work
  • Identify healthier ways of responding when familiar patterns are activated
  • Develop greater clarity about what they need and how they want to move forward

• Schema Therapy is an evidence-informed approach that helps identify the longstanding emotional and relational patterns that can shape how we experience ourselves and others. These patterns, known as schemas, often develop through earlier life experiences and can continue influencing relationships well into adulthood.
• For example, someone with an abandonment schema may become highly anxious when a partner seems distant, while someone with a self-sacrifice schema may consistently put other people's needs ahead of their own. Even when we recognize these patterns intellectually, they can be difficult to change because they often operate automatically.
• Within the Relational Reset™ Therapy Intensive, Schema Therapy provides a framework for understanding why certain relationship dynamics keep repeating and what emotional needs may be driving them. The goal is not simply to gain insight, but to begin developing healthier, more flexible ways of relating to yourself and others.

• Recurring relationship difficulties are not always simply about choosing the “wrong” person. They can reflect deeper emotional patterns that influence what feels familiar, how we interpret others’ behaviour, and how we respond when relationships become challenging.

• Schema Therapy helps identify these patterns and the coping strategies that often accompany them, such as people-pleasing, emotional withdrawal, perfectionism, or over-functioning. Understanding these patterns can help clarify why certain dynamics continue to repeat and where meaningful change can begin.

• In the Schema Therapy Intensive, this work is integrated with Emotion-Focused Therapy and attachment-informed approaches to help translate insight into change. Rather than focusing only on why patterns developed, we also explore new ways of responding that better reflect your needs, values, and relationship goals.

• That's completely normal. Many people experience concerns that span multiple areas, such as anxiety, self-worth difficulties, relationship patterns, and nervous system overwhelm.

• Each intensive has a primary focus, but treatment can be tailored to your needs. During a consultation, we can discuss your goals and determine the approach that best fits your situation.

• Most recurring relationship patterns aren’t random—they’re shaped by earlier emotional experiences, attachment dynamics, and unconscious expectations about how relationships work.
• Over time, your mind and nervous system learn what feels familiar, even if it’s painful or unfulfilling. You may find yourself drawn to similar types of people, reacting in predictable ways, or recreating dynamics that echo earlier relationships.
• These patterns are often connected to:
• Attachment styles (e.g., anxious, avoidant)
• Core schemas (like abandonment, emotional deprivation, or unworthiness)
• Learned roles you’ve taken on in relationships (such as over-functioning, people-pleasing, or withdrawing)

You can read a more detailed breakdown here →

• To receive partial or full coverage for your intensive, please make sure that your plan covers treatment by Canadian Certified Counselors (CCC) or Registered Social Workers (RSW) with an MSW (Master of Social Work), as those are my designations. Depending on your current health insurance provider or employee benefit plan, services may be covered in full or in part.
• Please contact your provider to verify how your plan compensates you for psychotherapy services, including services that are beyond a standard 50-minute session. Questions to ask include:
• “Does my health insurance plan include mental health benefits?
• “Does my plan only cover certain types of mental health professionals?”
• “Does my plan have a limit on how much it will cover per session? Does that change depending on the length of the session?”
• “Does my plan limit how many sessions per calendar year it will cover? If so, what is the limit?”
• “Do I need written approval from a primary care physician for services to be covered?”

• Yes. If you are seeing another therapist, an intensive with me can be a collaborative experience. If you like, I can coordinate with your current therapist both before and after the intensive, so that you can get the most out of your experience by integrating it with your ongoing treatment.

• That depends.

  Some people use a therapy intensive to bring focused attention to a specific issue or stuck point, and then return to their ongoing therapy with greater clarity or momentum.

  Others benefit from continued support as they integrate what emerged during the intensive and apply it within their day-to-day lives. For many people, this integration phase is where deeper, lasting change takes place.

  Occasionally, a person may feel satisfied with what they explored in an intensive and choose not to continue with ongoing therapy at that time.

  For individuals with complex or developmental trauma, ongoing therapy is typically the most supportive foundation. In select cases, an intensive may be used thoughtfully as a supplement to longer-term work, rather than as a stand-alone or primary approach.

• All of Smart Therapy’s services, including intensives, are currently only available via telehealth (online).

• Please contact me at rebecca@smart-therapy.ca to get started!