A structured clinical guide to couples schema therapy intervention

Couples caught in chronic conflicts often cycle through maladaptive coping modes that block emotional reconnection. Couple Schema Therapy: The Two-Legged Dimensional Model provides a systematic, module-based approach grounded in the simplified dimensional model. Clinicians gain a step-by-step framework for understanding attachment dynamics and emotional patterns, with experiential exercises and assessment tools ready for immediate clinical application.

Each module chapter follows a consistent structure: session objectives, verbatim client instructions, case vignettes, session transcripts, and therapist-specific guidance with summarizing tables. The book details how experiential techniques merge imagery work and chair dialogues into a unified method for activating blocked functional emotions. Neurobiological foundations underlying the dimensional model and coping mode cycles are thoroughly presented.

Readers will also find:

• The Mode Cycle Clashcard, a one-page case conceptualization tool that serves as a road map for directing therapy
• Specific tools for helping clients access and identify their current activation state during structured time-out interventions
• Guidance on commuting between meta-cognitive observer stances and embodied imagery states to broaden the intervention bandwidth
• Precise instructions for balancing schema activation with maintaining a stable therapeutic working alliance throughout couple sessions
• Strategies for addressing maladaptive interaction patterns applicable to both couple sessions and individual client work

Designed for psychotherapists, counselors, and mental health practitioners working with couples, this book serves as both a standalone clinical guide and a companion to existing schema therapy literature. Clinicians at all career stages will find its detailed, verbatim session guidance and structured module system directly applicable to practice.

Daniel Aurelio Ceballos Peña is a psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer specializing in Schema Therapy. He holds a Doctorate in Education and a Master’s degree in Social Sciences. He is the founder of Centro Integral de Terapia de Esquemas de México and is certified by the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) as a supervisor and trainer in both Individual Schema Therapy and Couples Schema Therapy. He received direct training from Jeffrey Young, founder of Schema Therapy, and Eckhard Roediger, developer of the Couples Schema Therapy model. He also holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Brief Therapy from the Centro di Terapia Breve Strategica di Arezzo, Italy, and an advanced certification in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute.