In this episode of Compassion in a T-Shirt, I’m joined by Rob Brockman, clinical psychologist, Schema Therapy practitioner, supervisor, and trainer.

This is not a beginner’s introduction to Schema Therapy. Instead, Rob and I take a deeper, more nuanced look at how Schema Therapy understands the mind through modes — the vulnerable, angry, detached, critical, and healthy states we move in and out of — and why differentiating these experiences matters clinically.

Rob unpacks how modes show up in the therapy room through behaviour, thoughts, felt sense, and motivation, and why understanding the function of anger, anxiety, and coping is so central to effective work. We explore how anger can take very different forms across modes — from unmet needs, to self-criticism, to protection, dominance, or complaint — and why working only with coping modes can inadvertently keep clients stuck.

A key theme throughout our conversation is the importance of getting beneath coping and protection to make contact with vulnerability, pain, and unmet needs — and how attunement, empathic confrontation, and limited reparenting help make that possible. Rob also reflects on the Healthy Adult mode, its role in regulating emotion, meeting needs, and setting limits, and where compassion naturally fits within this framework.

We then turn to integration. Drawing on his work in Contextual Schema Therapy, Rob shares how compassion-focused ideas and practices can be thoughtfully integrated into Schema Therapy — not as a separate model, but as skills that help strengthen the Healthy Adult and support healing from shame, guilt, and self-criticism.

If you’re a clinician curious about Schema Therapy, a therapist working with parts, modes, or multiplicity, or simply interested in how compassion can be embodied in deep, relational therapeutic work, I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

01:39 Understanding Schema Therapy Modes

04:15 Modes in Practice: Recognizing and Working with Modes

12:18 Exploring Anger in Schema Therapy

22:52 Practical Applications and Challenges

32:49 Understanding the Root of Anger

33:33 Analyzing TV Show 'Run' for Psychological Insights

36:27 Exploring Personal Triggers and Emotional Responses

42:30 The Role of Healthy Adult Mode in Behavior Regulation

47:57 Integrating Compassion in Schema Therapy

57:17 Upcoming Trainings and Resources

Links:

Firstly that (Exhaustive) Mode Paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763670/full

Live Schema Therapy Training Australia, New Zealand, and Bali: https://schematherapytraining.com/

Online Schema Therapy Training Platform: https://www.schematherapytrainingonline.com/

Schema Therapy Solution Course for Everyday Living: https://www.schematherapysolution.com/

Free What's the Schemata Podcast with Chris Hayes & Rob Brockman: https://schematherapytraining.com/podcast-whats-the-schemata

If you would like to learn more about compassion focused therapy, you can find Dr Stan Steindl's book The Gifts of Compassion here: https://www.ausapress.com/p/the-gifts-of-compassion-how-to-understand-and-overcome-suffering/

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Video hashtags:

schematherapy, schema modes, vulnerablechild, healthyadult, compassion, selfcompassion