In Malaysia, most psychotherapies were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, the development and availability of new psychotherapies have been comparatively slower and neglected in Malaysia, particularly in the context of trauma-focused psychotherapy. A new therapeutic model, schema therapy, has been hypothesized as a potential alternative for trauma treatment. This study adapted schema therapy to be culturally specific for Malaysia and conducted an interventional randomized controlled trial to investigate its effectiveness. The study focused on female young adults in Malaysia who had experienced repeated and continuous trauma.

The effectiveness of schema therapy was compared with Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Tf-CBT). Each group comprised 15 participants who received 16 one-hour therapy sessions over a span of 4 months. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were measured during the pre-test, post-test, and 3-month follow-up assessments. Additionally, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with participants from both the schema therapy and Tf-CBT groups to gain a deeper understanding of the differences between the two psychotherapeutic approaches.

Both quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrated that schema therapy exhibited superior short-term and long-term effectiveness compared to Tf-CBT in reducing PTSD symptoms. These findings support the viability of schema therapy as an effective option for addressing trauma in the Malaysian context.