WSTD 2025 — November 07th 2025 start at 08:00 AM CET.

Welcome to the 2nd World Schema Therapy Day (WSTD 2025) – we’re delighted to have you with us!

Throughout the day, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy inspiring presentations from international experts, covering a wide range of topics — from foundational concepts and research to applications in couples, groups, and children & adolescents.

Watch all WSTD 2025 Tracks. All videos will be released at 8:00 a.m. CET.

WSTD Website - Register now

About the Couples Track

Applying the model and experiential techniques to couples is a developing and exciting field within Schema Therapy. In this track, international experts explore how combining individual and conjoint sessions with the same therapist can help resolve “gridlocked problems” such as personality disorders, while building more functional interaction patterns between partners. This integrated approach expands the possibilities for successful couples work within Schema Therapy.

Ruht Holt — When chemistry causes chaos: Schema Therapy helps us understand and heal unhelpful attraction patterns.
Larry Riso — How to use the Mode Cycle clashcard — a case vignette.
Anastasia Kozlovski — Using Figurines to Represent Schema Modes in Couples Schema Therapy
Maria Sokolova — Challenges of conceptualization: identification of basic and secondary mode cycles using the example of Russian couples.
Daniel Ceballos — Modeling attachment-connection and assertiveness-autonomy needs as part of the psychoeducation process in schema therapy for couples
Denise Ginzburg — It’s Not About the Socks: Imagery Techniques as a Pathway to deeper Connection for Couples.
Vero Caballero — The Legacy of Absence: How the Abandonment Schema Impacts the Mode Cycle in Mexican Couples.
Eckhard Roediger — Empathic confrontation – How to access the soft core behind the hard shell.
Amfiana Botez — Compassion, Values and Action in ST for couples.
Renata Moreira — The Listening Gap: Bridging Emotional Distance Through Connetion Dialogue.
Ruth McCutcheon — The power of love: finding healing from inner critic shame.
Jaana Markela-Lerenc — Regaining trust after infidelity.
Eva Frank-Noyon — Unblocking intimate connection.
Aleksandra Defranc — Body shapes in intimate reconnection.
Peregrine Karvos — Motivating avoiders for sexual intimacy.
Wendy Behary — Dealing with Narcississtic Hypersexuality.
Amir Askari& Golafrooz Golami — ST-C in Islamic Culture (Religious Contexts vs. Modernism).
Agata Muszynska — Case study: Combining individal and conjoint work.
Leo Goetstouwers — A Multiple Baseline Case Series Study With Schema Therapy for Couples With One or Both Having a Personality Disorder: a Pilot Study.

Together, these presentations offer a colorful, vivid bouquet of insights — reflecting the creativity, compassion, and depth of Schema Therapy for couples.

ISST YouTube Channel

About the Main Track

The Main Track introduces the heart of Schema Therapy — an integrative model combining cognitive, behavioral, experiential, and attachment-based approaches. Through inspiring talks from international experts, discover how Schema Therapy helps people meet their core emotional needs, heal maladaptive patterns, and build resilience and authenticity. Open to therapists, students, and anyone curious about this deeply human and creative approach to psychotherapy. Together, these presentations highlight the diversity, compassion, and innovation of the global Schema Therapy community.

Nehal Abdelazim-Horstmann — Bouncing Back in a World on Edge: How Schema Therapy Builds Psychological Resilience.
Priya Puri — Deepening Imagery Rescripting in Schema Therapy Using EMDR – An Integrative Approach.
Eckhard Roediger — Healing Relationships: Schema Therapy for Couples – The Modular Approach.
Maria Mueller-Gartner — Limited Reparenting in Schema Therapy: Understanding Its Role and Impact
Hagara Feldman — Listening Beyond the Autobiography: Where the Life Story Meets Schema Therapy.
Ahmed Hanafy Mahmoud — Schema therapy for Substance misuse: A case study approach to efficacy and model development.
Leonardo Wainer — What is the evidence telling us? An updated analysis on Schema Therapy empirical research.
Khrystyna Zhyvaho — Schema Therapy for Complex Somatic Disorders.
Beata Pašková — Reparenting role of Healthy Adult.
Christoph Fuhrhans — “Is It Allowed to Cry During the Exercise?” Insights from Seven Years of Transcultural Training and Supervision in Arabic-Speaking Countries.
Chao (Iris) Huang — Balancing Cultural Sensitivity and Individual Uniqueness in Schema Therapy Practice with Chinese Clients.
Alp Karaosmanoglu — Layered Model of Early Maladaptive Schemas

About the Group Track

We are thrilled to have this year at WSTD a special track dedicated to Group Schema Therapy aimed to highlight the effectiveness of this wonderful form of therapy.
We invited renowned international experts in GST in order to present you this powerful, evidence based, framework and more then this to share with you their experience with different types of groups, pathologies, settings, cultures. You will see different approaches, creativity, flexibility novelty, all based on a validated protocol. They will explain group schema therapy work from many perspectives, they will offer rich and diverse topics, they will reveal unseen aspects of this complex work.
We invite you to be curious and discover or to be perseverant and consolidate what you already know!

Joan Farrell — The Evidence Based Model of Group Schema Therapy: Distinctive Features and the Studies.
Magdalena Kitlowska — Group Schema Therapy: Selection and Preparation
Louise Sainsbury — Group Schema Therapy: The ‘extra’ it brings to a treatment pathway in forensic inpatient personality disorder service.
Diana Teodorescu — Group Schema Therapy protocol for children and adolescents.
Jolijn Drost — Inside the Process: Phases and Challenges in Group Schema Therapy for Eating Disorders.
Janis Briedis — How can body focused interventions enhance group schema therapy practice? Discussion based Interview with Janis Briedis (UK), Interviewer Diana Teodorescu, GST Ambassador for WSTD. comming soon!

About the Children & Adolescents Track

In addition to the rich Programme of individual Schema Therapy of this year’s WSTD, we are delighted to offer a full-day international track dedicated to Schema Therapy for Children and Adolescents (ST-CA). Our goal is to make Schema Therapy accessible to colleagues who work with younger clients. Each presentation is thoughtfully designed to be clear, engaging, and easy to follow. If you're not yet familiar with ST-CA, we recommend starting with the first presentation in our series, Introduction to STCA, as it provides a solid foundation for understanding and applying the approach in work with children and adolescents.
It will be broadcast live and soon uploaded to the ISST YouTube channel.

We invite you to explore the talks at your own pace, reflect on the ideas, and connect with colleagues worldwide. Let this day inspire you to keep learning, sharing, and transforming lives through Schema Therapy.

All presentations of the 4 tracks will be available on the 7th November or shortly thereafter on the official ISST YouTube channel with integrated subtitles in many languages and open to everyone interested in modern, integrative psychotherapy.
WSTD is about connection, compassion, and the creative spirit of Schema Therapy.
It is a day to learn, to be inspired, and to celebrate our global community of professionals who bring this model to life every day.