Because a schema is a set of memories, emotions, bodily sensations, and cognitions, schema healing involves diminishing all of these: the intensity of the memories connected to the schema, the schema’s emotional charge, the strength of the bodily sensations, and the maladaptive cognitions. Schema healing also involves behavior change, as patients learn to replace maladaptive coping styles with adaptive patterns of behavior. As a schema heals, it becomes increasingly more difficult to activate. When it is activated, the experience is less overwhelming, and the patient recovers more quickly.
By repetition and exercise they build up new neural footprints and modify the old schemas, or at least the activation of them. This is what “schema healing” is about.
