Although short-term cognitive behavior therapies (CBT) are widely effective, we have noticed that patients with personality disorders do not make sufficient progress with these treatments. We contend that optimal treatment can only be accomplished for these patients if it is modified to address the personality disorder.Schema-focused therapy (SFT) was developed by Young (1990) to specifically address the needs of these patients and combines cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, and experiential techniques in treatment. Compared to short-term cognitive therapy (CT) 1 , SFT emphasizes the therapeutic relationship as a vehicle of change, utilizes emotive techniques to address early issues and later life problems, involves less guided discovery, more active confrontation of cognition and behavior patterns, and a greater concern with identifying and overcoming cognitive and behavioral avoidance. Finally, because there is far more resistance to change, the course of treatment is longer in SFT. Assessment, treatment strategies, and an illustrative case example will be provided in the present paper.