Terk Edilme Hikayesi ve Cinsel Yönelim Kaygısı: Şema Terapiyle Yaklaşım – Bir Olgu Sunumu

This case study presents the schema therapy process of a 22-year-old male client who experienced early-life abandonment and struggled with suppressed anxiety related to his sexual identity. The client reported that his father left the family when he was five years old, and he was subsequently raised in a female-dominated household. This background contributed to emotional deprivation, identity confusion, and the development of core schemas such as abandonment, defectiveness/shame, and emotional inhibition. When the client attempted to share his doubts regarding his identity with a psychiatrist during adolescence, the experience was invalidated and pathologized, reinforcing internalized shame regarding his sexual identity and negatively impacting his self-perception. Throughout the eight-session schema therapy process, the client’s dysfunctional schemas and coping modes—particularly the “abandoned child,” “compliant surrender,” and “punitive parent” modes—were identified and addressed. Techniques such as imagery rescripting, schema dialogues, behavioral experiments, and role-play interventions were employed to strengthen the healthy adult mode. By the end of therapy, the client demonstrated increased insight, decreased shame and guilt, and a more open and accepting stance toward his identity. This case highlights the effectiveness of schema therapy in supporting clients facing identity-related conflicts rooted in early developmental trauma and emphasizes its potential to improve psychological functioning by restructuring maladaptive schemas. Keywords: Schema therapy, abandonment schema, sexual identity anxiety, internalized shame, defectiveness schema.