All posts by rhona

More Catalyse CPD Sept-Dec 2025

16th August 2025CPD, Featuredrhona

An update about our CPD offer for the rest of 2025:-

Short notice availability: CAT in the Perinatal Period online ~ 9/16 September

If you missed Sarah Douglass’ in-person CPD day in June , there is another chance to join her and international colleagues for a repeat, split over two online morning workshops on 9th and 16th September. But you’ll have to move quickly, as booking closes this coming Friday, 22nd August. The workshops are relevant to trainee and qualified CATs, other therapists, plus CAT-interested professionals working in the perinatal field. We are offering them at the lower ‘ACAT member’ fee for all; online payments only. Please alert any colleagues who may be interested, especially those who like an early start to their day! Details are at: CAT in the Perinatal Period: two 3-hour online workshops led by Sarah Douglass ~ 9/16 September 7-10 am UK time

ACAT-Accredited CAT Supervisor Training Workshop ~ 4/5 December ~ Manchester

An in-person, non-residential, northern opportunity to complete Module 2 of ACAT’s CAT Supervisor Training Pathway. This workshop (with additional online pre- and post-training information sessions) offers you two solid days with Mark Evans and Glenys Parry focussing on a relational approach to CAT supervision and potential challenges in the supervision relationship. There will be presentations, skills demonstrations, role play and a chance to explore your own supervisory style. The online information/Q&A sessions with Dawn Bennett will help you be clear about stages in the training pathway to become an accredited CAT Supervisor. Following the in-person workshop, Dawn will facilitate the participant group’s exploration of setting up your own supervision groups (Module 3) as a next step in the process.

We very much encourage those who are eligible to train as CAT supervisors to do so in support of the expansion of CAT training both locally in your own Trusts and services, and nationally. Build your skills and confidence as a CAT Supervisor so you can be a part of these exciting developments. Existing CAT supervisors seeking to refresh their supervision-related CPD, and others not intending to seek accreditation, are also most welcome to attend. All details are at: ACAT accredited 2-day in-person workshop in CAT Supervisor Training (plus online pre-meet and follow-up Q&A session ~ led by Mark Evans, Glenys Parry and Dawn Bennett ~ in-person component on 4/5 December 2025

CAT as a Tool for Leadership ~ 12 December ~ Online

David Harvey offers another online opportunity to attend his very popular day workshop on how CAT can assist you in a leadership role. The day is particularly suited to those working in, or supporting others working in, traumatised systems where CAT’s multiple self states model can be helpfully applied to help improve care and manage difficult feelings and systemic processes. A handful of spaces are still available and full details are at: CAT as a Tool for Leadership led by David Harvey ~ 12th December 2025

Our other two previously announced CPD offers for 2025 are filling up, but you can still book places for either of these:

Integrating CAT for Complexity ~ 24 September ~ Liverpool

Join the Spring House team in Liverpool to hear about their specialist NHS community service approach to working with people diagnosed with severe ‘personality disorder’ and complex trauma. This day provides participants with an understanding of the theory and practice of working with those attracting such diagnoses. You’ll learn about underpinning CAT theory plus practical applications within the Spring House approach, including consultative work with the teams and services around this client group. You will also have a chance to draw on both team members’ and other participants’ perspectives through group discussion and exercises, live supervision of clinical dilemmas, and open questions. Full details are at: Integrating CAT for Complexity: a specialist NHS community service approach to working with people diagnosed with severe personality disorder and complex trauma ~ a one day in-person workshop led by Simon Graham and team colleagues from Liverpool’s Spring House Service ~ 24 September 2025

Enhancing CAT through Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy ~ 28 November ~ Manchester

Maria Kaltsi and Melanie Lee return for a second run of their day workshop introducing the IFS approach and how this sits alongside their CAT practice. In addition to presentations and experiential learning about IFS therapy, Maria and Melanie will facilitate open dialogue to help you explore the similarities, overlaps, and challenges of integrating CAT and IFS. Full details are at: Enhancing CAT through Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy ~ a one day in-person workshop led by Maria Kaltsi and Melanie Lee ~ 28 November 2025

Stay updated about new CPD events by bookmarking and checking our Forthcoming Catalyse Events page. You can also ask to join our mailing list to receive regular bulletins about Catalyse events and other news.

Research in CAT: opportunity and challenge

4th June 2025Featured, Job Opportunity, Researchrhona

In this guest blog, Dr Peter Taylor outlines some thoughts on the place of research on CAT, and shares news of new trial therapist opportunities in the North West and Yorkshire.

Research and Cognitive Analytic Therapy

There are many reasons why we should concern ourselves with research into CAT. Perhaps the most immediate is that, through evidencing the effectiveness of CAT, treatment guidelines can be updated to recommend it. This in turn encourages greater support and implementation of CAT within the NHS. Without supporting evidence, clinicians working within the NHS will increasingly be expected to apply other approaches. Opportunities to use CAT may diminish, limiting options for both practitioners and patients.

Beyond this practical concern though, there are other, more fundamental reasons for why research matters. I would argue that we owe it to our patients to stay curious, to seek to better understand where CAT can be helpful, and for whom. Likewise we should aim to evaluate where and how other approaches may be better placed to help. Given that research matters, it is positive that we are seeing steady progress in terms of research investigating CAT.

Relational approaches to treating self-harm

The RELATE trial (relational approaches to treating self-harm) was the first NIHR funded trial of CAT. We have now completed it, and are just working on publishing the associated papers. This was a feasibility trial looking at 8-session CAT as an intervention for self-harm in adults. In brief the results are positive, supporting the feasibility of evaluating CAT within a trial context. They indicate that this approach holds promise and warrants further evaluation. Through our work on RELATE I have heard from other clinicians and researchers across the UK who are exploring opportunities for further research into CAT, which is encouraging.

In other positive news we have successfully secured funding for another feasibility trial of 8-session CAT for self-harm. The trial is specific to young people aged 13 to 17 years. This is an important group, as we know self-harm often has its onset in adolescence. There is an opportunity here for early intervention that may lead to lasting change. We also know that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are often encountering high rates of self-harm and in need of therapies that can help support young people struggling with such experiences. The trial is imaginatively called RELATE-YP (Relational Approach to Working with Young People who Self-Harm). It is due to begin in December 2025.

Bringing an opportunity to fruition

These recent funding successes, whilst modest in scale when it comes to trials, suggest that funders are increasingly open to research into CAT. Obtaining funding is one thing though. The challenge we have now, to successfully set up and run this trial, is no mean feat. We will require trial therapists to help deliver the therapy who are:

CAT trained, or
have at least completed one year of CAT training, alongside
experience working with young people

We will employ a trial therapist for a day a week in each of the three sites:

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, and
Rotherham, Doncaster, and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust

Acting in a trial therapist role can be a great opportunity for a clinician. You receive focused training and supervision in delivering CAT within this particular context. We are also aware that life happens, and people come and go from these roles for various reasons. Consequently, we also need an idea of others in the area who might be interested in a trial therapist role. If we find ourselves short of a therapist for any reason, we would look to willing others to potentially step in and pick up some cases.

So, I am finishing this blog with a call to action of sorts: If you work in one of the Trusts mentioned above and might be interested in the trial therapist role, please do get in touch.

You can contact Peter Taylor via peter.taylor-2@manchester.ac.uk

“Keeping Two in Mind”: Perinatal CAT

26th March 2025CPDrhona

In this blog, Rhona Brown shares reflections on Sarah Douglass’ presentation at the Oxford Handbook of CAT launch event, ahead of Sarah’s full CPD day on CAT in the Perinatal Period taking place in Manchester on 20 June 2025.

One of the highlights, for me, of last April’s launch event for Brummer, Cavieres’ and Tan’s Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Analytic Therapy was the second presentation. This was led by Sarah Douglass on her chapter ‘CAT in the Perinatal Period’. As a trainer co-delivering an early practitioner training day on infant development and the social self for the Catalyse practitioner course, it was helpful to hear Sarah transpose Daniel Stern’s (1995) ideas on ‘The Motherhood Constellation’ into CAT tasks. In this she drew on specific CAT tools and approaches relevant to the challenges in parenthood of maintaining a baby’s survival and growth while attending to the parent’s own needs in order to do so. Throughout, she referred to the therapist’s task of “keeping two in mind” in supporting this endeavour.

In the first half of our practitioner training day Kate Fox and I introduce the work of Stern alongside other early developmental theorists relevant to CAT, including the late Colwyn Trevarthan. We refer to the close parent-infant observation developed particularly by Beatrice Beebe. However what Sarah packed in to her 40 minutes’ presentation slot brought to life what Kate and I only manage to touch on in a full morning.

Since adding CAT to her existing portfolio of clinical psychologist skills, Sarah has specialised in the perinatal mental health area. This was firstly as lead psychologist in a specialist perinatal mental health team in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. More recently she took up a role in Cardiff developing psychological services for baby loss and staff support. This work is based in Wales’ first psychological service in maternity. The specialised nature of Sarah’s role integrates not only CAT but other approaches like Video Interaction Guidance (VIG). This is another therapeutic tool aimed at supporting warmth and attunement in parent-infant interactions.

In last April’s presentation, Sarah drew on Alison Jenaway’s work on parenting and baby mapping. Additionally she referenced classic psychoanalytic literature like Fraiberg, Adelson and Shapiro’s (1975) Ghosts in the Nursery. For me, what really brought her session to life were passages she shared from mothers who’d made use of CAT in pregnancy & the perinatal period. Their moving testimony & reflections formed part of the Oxford Handbook chapter. She imparted a sense of profound optimism about the capacity for growth, change and relational enrichment even when parents were tackling significant mental health and other challenges.

Sarah graduated as a CAT practitioner from our 2015-2017 training cohort, prior to there being an established equivalent in South Wales. She now contributes to her local course as a marker and trainer. As an ACAT accredited CAT Supervisor she also supports South Wales and Catalyse course trainees working in perinatal services. At our 2019 conference she offered a workshop on what was an emerging area of work at that time. We’re delighted that she’s now returning to the north to run this full day on CAT in the Perinatal Period on June 20th.

The day will be of benefit to both trainee and qualified CATs. Many other non-CAT therapists may be working in this area, perhaps acting as perinatal champions in other talking therapies services. Sarah will include an accessible orientation to CAT in the context of perinatal work, for all. By bringing together those interested or already working in this field, the day will act as a gathering point for a growing community of practice in perinatal CAT.

We also expect that the day may be of interest to therapists and trainers working in any clinical area where the impact of early parenting relationships and transgenerational influences are key. After all, as Sarah ended with at her London session, a heartening paraphrasing of Vygotsky may apply in a preventative vein to many areas of therapeutic work. “What a client does with their therapist today, she will do on her own and with her infant tomorrow”.

For more details and booking options, go to https://catalyse.uk.com/cpd/cat-in-the-perinatal-period-20-june-2025/

From now till May 2025 ~ Applying to train as a CAT Practitioner

26th February 2025CAT Practitioner Trainingrhona

This time of year sees us planning and preparing for opening applications to our annual CAT Practitioner training course. We’re excited to announce that we are now open to applications to the course starting this autumn. We will be mailing round a message to all those on our existing contacts list . Please share this with anyone you think may be interested. You can follow this link for details of how to apply and entry criteria.*

In addition to our standard pathway, we expect again to have a limited number of places for NHSE funded trainees in the North West and Midlands NHE regions. However this stage we don’t know how many places will be funded this way. To stay informed you can check back to the dedicated page on NHSE funding at this link. We’ll post any updates there. That page also tells you what you or your colleagues need to do to seek approval if you hope to secure NHSE funding. This is usually through your Psychology Professional lead or manager who liaises with the NHSE regional lead for your area.

Each year we ask for feedback about the course from outgoing trainees. Through this the course team can gauge how the training’s been received and also pick up important pointers for maintaining quality. It also helps us to create a wordcloud image to use as we start to advertise for the new intake. To keep this fresh year-on-year, we feed in a sample of the comments shared by the outgoing cohort to an online wordcloud generator. This year we asked it to shape the image generated by the sample of words shared (with permission) by the 2023 – 2025 cohort into the letters C, A and T. It’s always interesting to see how the words fall into these randomly generated designs.

But of course this is based just on a sample of comments. Perhaps the best way to work out if the training is for you is to ask around amongst any CAT colleagues or current trainees. Hopefully they can give you more idea about their experience and realities of the training. There’s also a FAQ’s document available for download which might help answer some of your questions.

We look forward to receiving applications by the deadline of 30th May.