Co-Presented with Offer Maurer

This roundtable seeks to explore how discrimination related to gender and sexuality might unconsciously and unwittingly enter into the therapeutic encounter and how we, as schema therapists, can overcome and even harness these realisations in order to promote growth and thriving. As therapists and clients, we are deeply immersed in a society replete with many forms of overt and covert discrimination around gender and sexuality. This likely influences our schemas, modes, and coping styles in subtle ways we may not fully recognise. Our discussion will focus on raising awareness of the insidious effect societal discrimination may have on therapists’ and clients’ inner worlds. We will explore our sensitivities around these topics and examine our ability as therapists to detect the impact of early discrimination on our clients. Key questions include: How attuned are we to gender and sexuality-based discrimination in ourselves and our clients? What discriminations are commonly encountered in working with diverse clients? How might our own unconscious biases affect the therapeutic relationship? What are effective ways to reparent clients affected by discrimination? By shining a light on these unconscious processes, we hope to gain insight into the complex dynamics between gender, sexuality, and schema therapy. The discussion aims to contribute to a greater understanding of these crucial issues so we can enhance our therapeutic approaches to meet all clients’ needs. Together, we can work to counteract societal prejudices and provide the reparative relational experiences clients deeply need