Updating the Self: The Interplay between Negative Mental Imagery and Schema Change In Rescripting Negative Social Memories In Social Anxiety

Rescripting negative memories is an established intervention for anxiety, but active mechanisms remain unclear. In 311 participants, both compassionate and assertive rescripting reduced anxiety and improved mental imagery without corresponding changes in self-schemas, raising key questions about the active mechanisms connecting therapeutic changes in memory, emotion, mental imagery, and schemas.