A systematic analysis of the brothers Grimm from the therapy of schemes of Jeffrey Young

Abstract

The Therapy of the Schemes proposed by Jeffrey Young has as a characteristic the notion of Non-adaptive Initial Schemes (NISs) and of domains of schemes. The NISs are schematic structures formed by memories, emotions, cognitions and bodily sensations, which are in dysfunctional states and early in development. A premise of this approach is to consider that the NISs originate from harmful emotional experiences throughout childhood and adolescence in the family context. In child therapy, the NISs can be identified and modified from narrative techniques. Fairy tales, for containing symbols, fantasies and metaphors, they allow the activation of internal states and perceptions of the child in relation to their NISs. Excerpts from 12 tales were selected for which the concordance index in relation to the five domains of NISs was established. The contribution of this research is to show that the plots of fairy tales can compose protocols of child cognitive-behavioral intervention, constituting themselves as a psycho-educative and interventional tool.