The author proposes the concept of relational schemas as a metatheoretical construct that can serve as a common principle for describing change in various schools of psychotherapy. Relational schemas encompass subjective experiences and behavior of self-in-relationship and can be thought of as blueprints for experiencing the self and relating to others. Schemas originate in early childhood but are revised and shaped anew throughout life. They can be nonverbal or verbal, implicit or explicit. They affect the way we establish interpersonal relationships and our relationship with ourselves. Activation of relational schemas can result in a display of various ego states, and such schemas can be adaptive or defensive. For deep personality change, it is important that change take place at the level of schemas. Psychotherapy promotes change and reconstruction of old defensive schemas and, at the same time, the development of new relational schemas through the relationship with a therapist. Relational schemas theory can serve as a framework for integrating different psychotherapy schools.
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