Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 12:01:45 GMT
I've found the concept of life traps / schemas to be very helpful in working on attachment issues and in overall personal development. Some of you may already be familiar with the idea but I thought it'd be useful to share this in case some aren't (this is a common therapeutic approach in Europe but not in the U.S.). There are some self-help books available, including exercises and inner child work.
Schema therapy shares the psychoanalytic approach with attachment theory, the idea that the foundations of our personality are shaped in the early attachment with our caregivers. Interactions with close people shape our sense of self and our beliefs of the world and other people. Many of these perceptions become harmful over time and possibly even very distorted internalized "inner voices" that drive us to behave in ways that confirm our core beliefs. These beliefs, "life traps", are not easy to change because they are often life-long patterns - just like attachment issues - but it is possible with awareness and determination.
Just like attachment theory, this is a psychological construct, not the ultimate truth - it should be considered a tool used to categorize patterns of experiences, behavior and thinking and to help people become aware of and change them.
More information:
www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/schema-therapy-basics/
You can test your life traps here: www.tunnelukkosi.fi/en/lifetrap-test-eng.php (the original site is in Finnish so the English version is not perfect but the test works fine - I couldn't manage to find a working original English test online)
It'd be interesting to hear what kind of results you get from this test and how they align with your experiences and your attachment style (if you have a clear one). For example, as an FA, my strongest life trap is "Abuse / Mistrust" - the fear of being abused as a result of being susceptible to abuse. I think it is also symptomatic of FA to have a lot of strong life traps, and probably secures have the least of them. Other typical life traps for FA are for example Defectiveness, Abandonment, Subjugation and Emotional inhibition.
These are my main life traps (result from test "very strong"):
Abuse
Punitiveness
Subjugation
Emotional inhibition
Self-sacrifice
Defectiveness
Abandonment
Failure
Approval seeking
Emotional deprivation
Schema therapy shares the psychoanalytic approach with attachment theory, the idea that the foundations of our personality are shaped in the early attachment with our caregivers. Interactions with close people shape our sense of self and our beliefs of the world and other people. Many of these perceptions become harmful over time and possibly even very distorted internalized "inner voices" that drive us to behave in ways that confirm our core beliefs. These beliefs, "life traps", are not easy to change because they are often life-long patterns - just like attachment issues - but it is possible with awareness and determination.
Just like attachment theory, this is a psychological construct, not the ultimate truth - it should be considered a tool used to categorize patterns of experiences, behavior and thinking and to help people become aware of and change them.
More information:
www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/schema-therapy-basics/
You can test your life traps here: www.tunnelukkosi.fi/en/lifetrap-test-eng.php (the original site is in Finnish so the English version is not perfect but the test works fine - I couldn't manage to find a working original English test online)
It'd be interesting to hear what kind of results you get from this test and how they align with your experiences and your attachment style (if you have a clear one). For example, as an FA, my strongest life trap is "Abuse / Mistrust" - the fear of being abused as a result of being susceptible to abuse. I think it is also symptomatic of FA to have a lot of strong life traps, and probably secures have the least of them. Other typical life traps for FA are for example Defectiveness, Abandonment, Subjugation and Emotional inhibition.
These are my main life traps (result from test "very strong"):
Abuse
Punitiveness
Subjugation
Emotional inhibition
Self-sacrifice
Defectiveness
Abandonment
Failure
Approval seeking
Emotional deprivation
