The Schema Therapy Training Center
Your Most Difficult Clients Aren’t Failing Therapy.
They’re Waiting for the Right Approach.
Schema Therapy is designed to reach entrenched patterns that often remain after symptoms, thoughts, or skills have already been addressed, and STTC trains you to practice it at a world-class level.
ISST-Approved Training • Global Cohort • Founded by a Co-Developer of Schema Therapy for Couples
The Missing Layer
You’re Already Skilled. This Is What’s Underneath.
CBT
Changes thoughts
DBT
Builds regulation
ACT
Builds flexibility
Schema Therapy
Changes the pattern underneath all three
Most clinicians add Schema Therapy after mastering another model—not instead of one.
ISST-Approved Training · A Growing Evidence Base for Longstanding, Entrenched Patterns ↓
The Evidence
This Isn’t Just a Compelling Framework
Schema Therapy has been tested head-to-head against the other leading treatments for the most complex, longstanding presentations—and in several of the areas clinicians find hardest to move, it comes out ahead.
Ranked First
The Strongest Overall Showing
A 2023 network meta-analysis of the leading psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder ranked Schema Therapy highest for symptom improvement and for keeping patients in treatment (Setkowski et al., 2023).
Landmark Trial
Half Reached Full Recovery
In a three-year randomized trial, about half of the patients treated with Schema Therapy achieved full recovery—they no longer met the criteria for borderline personality disorder at all—with lower dropout than the comparison treatment (Giesen-Bloo et al., 2006).
Head-to-Head With DBT
Better Together Than Apart
Compared directly with DBT, both treatments worked—but they shined in different places. DBT reduced anger more quickly, while Schema Therapy pulled ahead on quality of life and overall functioning across follow-up (Assmann et al., 2024). Imagine integrating the two and giving your clients the strongest of each.
And this reaches far beyond BPD. Borderline presentations are among the toughest cases in clinical practice. If Schema Therapy holds up with cases this challenging, imagine what it can do for the client you feel stuck with—even when BPD isn’t the diagnosis.
Why STTC
Trained by Someone Who Helped Build the Field
The Original Schema Model
You learn Schema Therapy where most of the research was actually done, so you’ll hear the word schema often—alongside the field’s latest innovations. That matters: some trainings barely mention schemas anymore. This is where my years working directly with Jeffrey Young come in.
Couples Expertise
Real nuance from a co-developer of Schema Therapy for Couples.
Learn by Doing
Every session combines focused teaching with demonstration, guided role play, experiential practice, and feedback.
International Standing
An ISST-approved certification program in standard and advanced individual and couples Schema Therapy. Our coursework fulfills every required hour—42 of the 40 required for individual certification, and 33 of the 30 required for couples.
A Connected Global Cohort
Capped at 20 and built by design to bring together therapists from different countries and perspectives. That mix deepens real connection and sharpens your thinking—while guarding against the groupthink a single-viewpoint room breeds.
Deep Conceptual Understanding
Move beyond techniques to understand why schemas develop, how modes shift, and how to make confident clinical decisions with complex clients.
“Training with clinicians from around the world sharpens your thinking as much as the curriculum does.”
How You’ll Actually Learn
Most Training Fades in a Month. This Is Engineered So It Doesn’t.
After a typical multi-day intensive, clinicians tend to retain only a fraction of what they learned within a month. When the same material is spaced out and reinforced between sessions, retention improves substantially. This program is built around that research, not around convenience.
Weekly, Not Crammed
3-hour sessions, spaced out, so skills actually stick.
Reconnect, Then Build
Every session opens together—revisiting what worked and what didn’t the week before, so the cohort learns as a community before new material begins. Connection first, content second.
Practice in a Safe Space
You try the technique in a small, supportive group—at your own pace, with no pressure to perform. It’s a place to explore, not to be put on the spot.
Apply, Then Discuss
Use it with real clients, then bring what happened back to the group the following week for instructor feedback and case discussion.
This loop is where clinical judgment is actually built. It’s course-based clinical discussion and instructor feedback, not individual consultation or supervision.
The Transformation
The Therapist You’ll Become
The Therapist You Are Today
- ✕Stuck with clients who won’t move
- ✕Second-guessing every intervention
- ✕Dreading certain sessions
The Therapist You’ll Become
- ✓Confident in the room, even with hard cases
- ✓Cases finally moving again
- ✓The therapist colleagues refer their hardest clients to
You’ll catch a mode shift while it’s happening. You’ll know exactly which intervention this moment calls for. And you’ll finally understand why the pattern keeps repeating, because you’ll be able to see it clearly enough to name it out loud.
Choose Your Pathway
Which Path Is Yours?
Individual Certification
“You already know this client. Ready to finally know what to do with them?”
Learn More →Couples Certification
“When the pattern lives between two people, not just inside one. Start here.”
Learn More →Find a Schema Therapist
“Not a clinician, just looking for care? Find a certified therapist near you.”
Search the Directory →
Your Trainer
Learn From Someone Who Helped Build the Field
Travis Atkinson began training directly with Jeffrey Young in 1994 and worked alongside him for more than a decade at the Cognitive Therapy Center of New York. Together, they helped build the first international training program in Schema Therapy, and Travis went on to co-develop Schema Therapy for Couples.
He is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the International Society of Schema Therapy and one of its original founders. When you train here, you’re learning from someone who helped shape the model, not simply someone certified to deliver it.
Questions
Before You Apply
Is the training ISST-approved?+
Yes. Both the Individual and Couples programs are ISST-approved training that fulfill the coursework hours required for ISST certification.
Does completing the coursework make me certified?+
Not on its own. This program fulfills the full coursework component required by ISST. Certification also requires separate consultation and competency requirements set by ISST, which are not included in this coursework.
Is the training live?+
Yes. Sessions run live online, weekly, and blend didactic teaching with demonstration, guided role play, experiential practice, and instructor feedback.
What happens if I miss a session?+
Recordings of each live session are available for at least a year after training ends, so missing a week doesn’t mean missing the material.
Is consultation or supervision included?+
The coursework includes group discussion of your cases and instructor feedback each week. This is course-based clinical discussion, not the individual ISST consultation or supervision required separately for certification.
Do I need previous Schema Therapy training?+
No. The program is built for licensed clinicians working with individual adults or couples, whether you’re new to Schema Therapy or already have some background in it.
Can international clinicians participate?+
Yes. Cohorts are made up of clinicians from around the world, training together live online.
How does regional tuition work?+
Tuition is set on a regional, cost-of-living basis using World Bank country tiers, with installment plans available. Every clinician receives the same live coursework regardless of tier. View tuition details →
Applications Are Open for the Fall 2026 & Spring 2027 Cohorts
Individual Certification begins September 10 and Couples Certification begins September 23 for the Fall 2026 intake. Prefer to start later? A second Individual Certification cohort opens in Spring 2027. Every cohort runs live, weekly, and is capped at 20 participants.
Apply Now