World Schema Therapy Day

World Schema Therapy Day. A day to share knowledge, exchange ideas, build bridges and foster collaboration.

Special guests:

Psy. Dr. Cristina Sterie, President of the Romanian Institute of Schema Therapy (IRST)

Prof. Univ. Dr. Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, director of the Doctoral School of Psychodiagnostics and Scientifically Validated Psychological Interventions, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeș-Bolyai University

Prof. Dr. David Edwards, former president of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST), director of the Schema Therapy Institute in South Africa.

Prof. Dr. Paul Kasyanik, director of the Schema Therapy Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia

Our colleagues, Psy. Roxana Nicolau - Vice President of IRST, ST trainer and supervisor, and Psy. Dr. Diana Teodorescu, director of IRST Iași, ST trainer and supervisor

Our hosts: Psy. Dr. Oana Cobeanu, director of the Cluj Branch of IRST, and the Art Museum in Cluj-Napoca

October 12, 2008 is the date on which the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) was established in Coimbra, Portugal. However, Dr. Jeffrey Young began developing schema therapy (ST) as early as the mid-1980s, trying to support patients with personality disorders who did not benefit enough from traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy. Techniques and concepts from a wide range of psychotherapeutic approaches were integrated into a unifying framework with the goal of synergistically combining their strengths. Dr. Young established the first Schema Therapy Institute in the 1990s in Manhattan. Adopted by many clinicians in the United States, Europe, and Asia, schema therapy has caught the attention of psychologists in the Netherlands working on a large-scale study of treatments for borderline personality disorder. Research on this type of therapy was initiated, and today there are multiple research lines underway, both in the theory and techniques of schema therapy, along with numerous training programs for certification. All of these have led to an increasing interest in schema therapy among clinicians and patients worldwide. The application of this type of therapy has expanded to clients with narcissistic personality disorder, patients with personality disorders in cluster C, and currently, there are more and more studies showing the effectiveness of schema therapy for a wider range of patients who do not respond to traditional treatments.

In Romania, formal certification programs in Schema Therapy were initiated in parallel in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca starting in 2016. Prior to this date, we were pleased to have Dr. Jeffrey Young as a guest in Cluj as early as 2010, through the Meeting of the Minds event series organized at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Babeș-Bolyai University, then led by Prof. Univ. Dr. Daniel David, who was also the initiator of the project. Another special guest of this event series was Dr. Thomas Dowd, through whose efforts we began a collaboration in Cluj-Napoca with Prof. David Edwards, one of the two foreign trainers who initiated international certification programs in ST in Romania. The facilitator of the first group of psychotherapists trained in ST in Romania, Paul Kasyanik, is currently the director of the Schema Therapy Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was invited to Bucharest in 2016 by the Association of Hypnotherapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy, on the recommendation of Joan Farel. In 2018, the second training group was organized in Cluj-Napoca, with Prof. David Edwards as the facilitator. Not long after, the Romanian Institute of Schema Therapy was established, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Together, we will learn more about the work of IRST at the event opening from Psy. Dr. Cristina Sterie, President of IRST. We are honored to have further guests such as Prof. Univ. Dr. Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar, Prof. David Edwards (online), and Paul Kasyanik (online), each bringing to our attention a bit of the history, present, and future of ST and the community being built in Romania around it. We are glad to have our colleagues, Roxana and Diana, with us to ground us in what a psychotherapist's journey into the world of ST entails.

Who is this event for?

Psychotherapists trained in ST, Psychotherapists interested in ST, Clinical psychologists, Counselors

Where and when?

October 12, 2024 - in person in Cluj-Napoca and online via Zoom. We will be hosted by our colleague Psy. Dr. Oana Cobeanu, director of the Cluj Branch of IRST, alongside our partners from the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, in the Tonitza Hall. The Zoom link will be sent to those who choose to attend online upon registration.

Proposed agenda of the event:

10:00 – 10:30 – Presentation by Psych. Dr. Cristina Sterie

10:30 – 11:00 – Presentation by Prof. David Edwards

11.00 – 11.30 – Presentation by Prof. Univ. Dr. Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar – The role of early maladaptive schemas in loneliness

11.30 – 12.00 – Presentation by Paul Kasyanik

12.00 – 12.30 – Presentation by Psych. Dr. Diana Teodorescu – Innovative approaches to the ST-CA protocol

12:30 – 13:00 – Presentation by Psych. Roxana Nicolau – Supervision in the therapist certification process: a necessity for quality and standardization in professional practice

13.00 – 14:00 – Q&A Session & Networking

Cristina Sterie is a chief psychologist, trainer, and supervisor in clinical psychology, counseling, and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, as well as the general secretary of the Association of Hypnotherapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy. Cristina has advanced accreditation in Schema Therapy and training in clinical and Ericksonian hypnosis, short, collaborative, resource-focused and solution-focused counseling and psychotherapy, systemic psychotherapy for couples, children, families, brief-strategic psychotherapy, and transactional analysis. Since 2018, she has been the president of the Romanian Schema Therapy Institute, and since 2020, the certification coordinator for the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST).

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Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar is a professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at Babeș-Bolyai University, and the director of the Doctoral School of Psychodiagnostics and Scientifically Validated Psychological Interventions. She is a clinical psychologist and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist. Her clinical and research interests include scientifically validated psychological interventions, mechanisms of psychopathology, and factors contributing to happiness and well-being.

David Edwards is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, trainer, and supervisor with over 35 years of experience in the field of psychotherapy, accredited by the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST). He is a professor at Rhodes University in South Africa, an associate member of the British Psychological Society, a founding member and diplomat of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, specializing in training and certifications, and setting international standards for cognitive therapy as developed by Aaron T. Beck. He was also the former president of ISST.

Paul Kasyanik is a full member of ISST, an advanced Schema Therapy therapist, accredited supervisor/trainer for Schema Therapy for individual work, children/adolescents, and groups. He is also the director of the training and certification program at the Schema Therapy Institute in St. Petersburg, as well as a former member of the ISST Executive Committee and former certification and research coordinator for ISST.

Diana Teodorescu is an advanced Schema Therapy therapist, trainer, and supervisor for ST-Individuals, ST-Children and Adolescents, and ST-Groups, certified by ISST. She is a member of the ST-CA Committee and the ST-Groups Committee of the International Society of Schema Therapy. Diana is the coordinator of the Iasi Branch of the IRST. She is also a CBT trainer and supervisor at IFTECC Iasi, affiliated with EABCT, and an Associate Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences.

Roxana Nicolau is a clinical psychologist and supervisor psychotherapist accredited by the Romanian College of Psychologists. Internationally, she is a certified ISST therapist for Individual Schema Therapy and Schema Therapy for Couples. She is the co-founder and Vice President of the Romanian Schema Therapy Institute, and has been an active member of ISST since 2012. Her interest in improving and clarifying professional certification policies at the international level has led her to volunteer on the Certification Committee for emerging countries after gathering various issues as the National and Regional Certification Coordinator for ISST for Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria.

Oana Cobeanu is the director of the Cluj Branch of the Romanian Schema Therapy Institute, a therapist trained in Schema Therapy, a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist, and a clinical psychologist accredited by the Romanian College of Psychologists. She holds a PhD in psychology with over 15 years of experience in individual therapy, as well as over 7 years of experience in teaching and training in both academic and private settings.