Development and Validation of Emotional Schema Therapy Protocol for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Descriptive Study

This study aimed to develop and validate emotional schema therapy protocol for patients with borderline personality disorder. The present study was descriptive and the protocol was developed based on theoretical foundations and research evidence. Fifteen emotional schema therapy sessions based on the emotional schema model were developed and their validity was evaluated using the APA Criteria for Evaluating Treatment Guidelines (American Psychological Association, 2021) and the 45 questionnaires by professors and specialists. Data were analyzed by using the content validity index and content validity ratio. The results showed that at the treatment formulation stage was 0.80 and was approved for the validity of the content of treatment sessions for all sessions, and treatment sessions were more than 0.79. The validity of the theoretical foundations of emotional schema therapy and the goal and form of sessions were confirmed by specialists. According to the research results, specialists believe this treatment can be used as adjunctive psychotherapy for individuals with borderline personality disorder.