One of the very frequent cases in the consultation are consultations due to emotional dependence. A problem that affects the female population more. This is characterized by an urgent need and urgency to demand attention from the partner.
This problem has various causes, including early maladaptive schemes, which will cause a series of alterations at a cognitive, behavioral and emotional level in couple relationships.. Emotional dependence presents symptoms such as: need for constant approval, low self-esteem, fear of loneliness, denial of the problem, insecurity, anxiety and subjugation to the point of constant self-sacrifice. Precisely one of the schemes closely related to this problem is subjugation, abandonment, insufficient self-control, self-sacrifice…
Young (1990) defines EDTs as cognitive patterns (memories, emotions, bodily sensations, and cognitions) that are extremely stable and enduring and develop during the early stages due to lack or dissatisfaction of emotional needs and they prevail throughout the subject’s life and are highly dysfunctional.
Schemas serve as references for the processing of subsequent experiences and dysfunctionally compromise cognitions, memories, emotions, and bodily sensations, affecting intra- and interpersonal relationships.
What is emotional dependence?
This problem is a pattern of unmet emotional needs that are attempted to be met with other people, which favors the development of dysfunctional symptoms. And it is characterized by the impetuous need and demand for attention from the partner.
Castello (2019) indicates that those who suffer from this problem have an intense fear of abandonment, vulnerability to rejection, fear of stopping being loved or feeling less important in the life of another. Therefore, according to Petrucelli et al. (2014) People with emotional dependence present control, possessiveness and restriction behaviors, which limits autonomy.. As well as a constant request for attention and contact with the couple. As a consequence of all this, the person suffers from high levels of stress, pathological anxiety and depression, and even tolerance of partner abuse. But what are the symptoms?
What are the causes?
The causes of emotional dependence are: irrational beliefs and thoughts, insecure attachments, low self-esteem, dependent personality and life traps or maladaptive schemes. EDT, according to (Young & Weishaar, 2013), arise from the dissatisfaction of emotional needs in the early stages. These tend to bias or distort the interpretation of situations since the scheme influences and determines the way of perceiving, thinking, feeling, behaving and relating..
What are the maladaptive schemas related to emotional dependence?
According to the results of some studies, they indicate that the maladaptive schemes related to emotional dependence are:
How is psychotherapeutic intervention for emotional dependence carried out?
Therapeutic intervention with the schema therapy model begins with interviews, evaluations and then psychotherapy. Once the evaluation phase is completed and the EDTs have been identified, the therapeutic intervention proceeds with the schema therapy model..
Schema therapy through its cognitive, behavioral and experiential techniques allows you to identify and change patterns of maladaptive thoughts and behaviors (EDT: attachment, abandonment, insufficient self-control, negativism/pessimism, subjugation, self-sacrifice…) for more adaptive ones, thus allowing you to take the right path. control of the healthy adult, who has schemes, rational thoughts and adaptive behaviors which will allow him to feel more pleasant emotions.
To achieve this objective, therapists must train in schema therapy since With this, they acquire innovative and integrative therapeutic resources and will be able to carry out interventions in chronic and severe disorders. such as BPD and other types of personality disorders, substance addictions, emotional dependence and relationship problems.
ITE cordially invites all those who wish to acquire online clinical training in schema therapy and specialization courses such as:
These trainings will allow you to carry out better interventions, both evaluative and therapeutic, since it allows you a more comprehensive view and therefore the interventions will be more effective, especially in cases of traumatic events that are difficult to address.
Conclusions
In conclusion, emotional dependence is a problem that is related to EDTs, for this reason it requires a professional specialized in schema therapy.
Schema therapists are trained to carry out both evaluative and therapeutic approaches in cases of emotional dependence due to EDT such as: attachment, subjugation, self-sacrifice, insufficient self-control… through the use of different techniques, therapists help patients with emotional dependence to identify, satisfy the emotional need, reinterpret and adopt new patterns of cognitive and behavioral responses to events that activate them and make them experience disproportionate emotions, but with the therapist’s guidance these patterns are progressively regulated until they reach a point where the healthy adult takes control of the person’s life.
