17/06/2026
In No Country for Old Men, Anton Chigurh is not driven by rage, impulse, or even conventional sa**sm. He is something colder and more unsettling: a man who moves through the world with a quiet, almost mechanical certainty, removing anyone who stands in the way of what he has decided must be done. He does not lose control. He simply eliminates obstacles.
In forensic schema therapy, we might understand this presentation as Predator mode — a state organised around strategic removal rather than emotional dysregulation or status-seeking. It is a mode that appears far less often in therapy sessions than other overcompensatory states, yet it carries significant explanatory power when we try to make sense of serious violence, particularly instrumental offending.
In my most recent post, I explore how Predator mode differs from other overcompensatory modes, why it often remains hidden or contained during therapy, and what it looks like when it does surface. I also discuss how therapists can respond when this mode is active — including the difficult but necessary question of when safety requires ending the session.
If you work with clients who have histories of violence or serious offending, this piece may offer a useful way of thinking about a mode that is both clinically significant and relatively uncommon in the consulting room.
Read it here →
An analysis of the unusual schema mode
