Adaptive vs Maladaptive?

The essence of the Healthy Adult mode.

Adaptive behaviours are the essence of the Healthy Adult mode. It's in this adaptive mental space that we are able to balance our personal needs with the needs of others.

There are several common Maladaptive 'modes' in schema therapy:

- Compliance e.g. submissiveness, self sacrifice or un-equalness in relationships.

- Avoidance e.g. avoidance or distraction in the form of drinking to much, tolerating treatment from others that we're really not ok with.

- Overcompensatory e.g. spending money we don't have, provoking others, placing enormous expectations on ourselves and others.

Schema therapy targets our maladaptive (behaviours that don't work) coping behaviours and replaces these with adaptive coping behaviours.

Maladaptive behaviours might have worked for us in our environment growing up, but cause problems as adults us and in our relationships.

But wait..... there's more - 'modes' that is, and that's usually where we start in Schema Therapy.