The 11 lifetraps: a self-check
Eleven short scenes, one for each of the 11 lifetraps Jeffrey Young and Janet Klosko describe in Reinventing Your Life, about 3 minutes. For each you say how much it sounds like you lately. The result lists a few lifetraps to read first and opens with a short summary Conscious Living AI writes from your answers. Afterward you can answer 7 more scenes to see all 18 schemas, and your answers carry over.
A place to start reading, not an assessment. It points to lifetraps worth reading about first. The full lifetrap questionnaires are in Reinventing Your Life, and a psychologist or schema therapist can go further with you.
We wrote these 11 scenes ourselves, one for each lifetrap. They haven't been tested, and they don't measure how strong a lifetrap is or whether you have it. One scene for each is very little, so the order is a rough guide to where to read first, and ties are common. The book's own questionnaires are longer and go into each lifetrap in more depth. In the book, Subjugation also covers putting others first (self-sacrifice), and Entitlement also covers trouble with self-control.
- Abandonment: Expecting that the people you need will leave or can't be relied on.
- Mistrust and abuse: Expecting that others will hurt, use or deceive you.
- Emotional deprivation: Expecting that your need for warmth and understanding won't be met.
- Defectiveness: Feeling flawed or unlovable underneath.
- Social exclusion: Feeling different and as if you don't belong anywhere.
- Dependence: Doubting you can cope with everyday life without help.
- Vulnerability: Fear that disaster, illness or loss could strike at any moment.
- Failure: Expecting to fall short of other people.
- Entitlement: A sense of being owed special treatment and exceptions.
- Subjugation: Giving in to others to keep the peace, and setting your own wants aside.
- Unrelenting standards: A rule that nothing short of excellent will do, with little rest.