Is Schema Therapy an appropriate modality for my situation?

Schema Therapy Questions

39-year-old female in a long-term relationship, struggling with a recurring pattern where I initially feel attraction/connection, but over time I become emotionally detached, critical, and repulsed (“the ick”), especially as the relationship becomes more committed.

I also experience intense anxiety, guilt, and a strong sense of suffocation when my partner wants closeness, along with a near-complete loss of libido (been the case for many years, since at least my mid-20s. I've never had a high libido, and it's been non-existant for well over 15 years).

I have a history of anxious attachment that has shifted into avoidant behaviors in long-term relationships as I get older.

My parents are still together but have a cold, contemptuous marriage (at 39 I've still never seen them touch, kiss, or share any nice/loving words with each other. Not once), which I'm sure are influencing my own relational patterns.

Trying to understand whether this treatable through schema therapy? I've done CBT for YEARS and I cannot seem to feel any shift, I'm just increasingly more self-aware.

Posted Jun 8, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

1419
Loading comments…