The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Study

Farzin Bagheri Sheykhangafshe¹ Danial Alizadeh² Golfam Pirabbasi³ Mostafa Naeimi⁴

1) PhD Candidate in Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran-
2) Master of Clinical Psychology, Lahijan Branch of Azad University, Lahijan, Iran-
3) Master of Clinical Psychology, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran-
4) Master of Clinical Psychology, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran-

IOI Code : XDFZ-FGFZA
Publication : Psychotherapy(psthir.ir)
Abstract :
    Schema therapy builds a new system of psychotherapy. This treatment is especially suitable for patients who are suffering from long-term and widespread mental disorders and are resistant to psychological therapies. In this regard, the present review was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on depression and anxiety. In this study, a systematic review by searching by keywords of psychotherapy, schema therapy, anxiety, depression, stress and psychological disorders in the titles and abstracts of articles published in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, SID, Magiran, Noormags and ScienceDirect Was searched. The main criterion for entry was the printed articles of all relevant Persian and English texts during the years 2012 to 2020. The PRISMA checklist was used to review and control the quality of articles. Findings showed the effect of schema therapy on reducing anxiety and depression in group therapy. Further studies also showed that the indicators of anxiety and depression after treatment intervention were significantly reduced by schema therapy in the follow-up period. On the other hand, schema therapy, along with other cognitive and behavioral therapies, significantly helps to reduce psychological disorders.

Keywords : psychotherapy schema therapy anxiety depression stress