All posts by rhona

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Leadership online in January 2025

We are pleased to let you know the first of 2025’s CPD days is now open for booking. David Harvey is offering an online version of his very popular day on CAT as a Tool for Leadership on 31st January 2025. The first planned run of this day had to be postponed during lockdown in 2020. David readily took the plunge into remote delivery, and it ended up being the first of our online events.  David has since led the day another three times face-to-face as part of our CPD programme.  He’s also delivered it for a couple of NHS Trusts who commissioned bespoke CPD days through Catalyse.  Each time it gets consistent feedback as highly relevant to the realities of NHS and other public service settings.  In the words of one participant:

“One of the few teachings that recognises the reality of our day to day work, and proposes realistic strategies to support a traumatized system.”

If you are familiar with David’s work you’ll know that he makes use of CAT’s Multiple Self States Model (MSSM) as applied to systems.  In addition to a systemic overview he also manages to back-translate this conceptual understanding into manageable, personal and human interventions which help to maintain more healthy communication and relationships amongst staff, teams and levels within systems where risk and complexity present frequent challenges.

We were reckoning up that over a hundred participants have benefitted from this training to date.  Perhaps we can entice David into considering a ‘next step’ follow-on of some sort. This could build on the leadership capabilities of those who have been using these ideas in their settings to date….

The day is open not just to CAT Practitioners, Psychotherapists and trainees. It is also relevant and open to all professionals tasked with leading or influencing other colleagues, teams or systems which support service users with complex needs and/or high risks. By running it online a second time, we hope it is accessible to those who may struggle to attend an in-person event. With increasingly unpredictable weather, especially in the winter months, this may circumvent problems with travel and keep CAT CPD on our agendas as the new year begins.

You can read more about the day and book on to January’s event through the link at https://catalyse.uk.com/cpd/cat-as-a-tool-for-leadership-31-january-2025/

Update 17 October 2024 – this event is now fully booked but do contact us if you’d like to add your name to a waiting list for cancellations or notification about a future repeat.

In Transition…

As we start to leave the summer behind us and move into another season, there’s a bit of space for a look back on the last few months. And with the new 2024 Practitioner Training intake due to commence in October, there’s equally lots to think about for the coming months ahead.

In our CPD programme Sarah Littlejohn’s two day introduction to CAT in July went down well. With permission to share, this piece of feedback gives an appreciative summary of one participant’s experience:

“I really valued the whole 2 days. The exercises and activities gave the opportunity to immediately put the content into practice. I was able to clearly see how to apply the content in my therapeutic work. There were also some really nice, meaningful exercises that I will take forward ……. It felt like the whole group were really engaged and excited about using CAT.”

In our meeting last week we reflected on how good it is to see people who have attended an introductory course, a CAT Skills training or orientation, or engaged in a Personal Reformulation experience go on to take further steps in their professional journey in cognitive analytic therapy. We see the culmination of such journeys as people come on to Practitioner Training. Some at a later stage offer their support as accredited CAT Supervisors. Culmination isn’t really the right word, as there’s not an end point. It’s more of an ongoing process as people become part of a broader CAT community across the UK, and further afield in some cases.

As an example, this year we have two new cohort tutors joining the Practitioner Training team. This reflects another large intake of around forty trainees and preparations are underway for setting up all that they need. We have at least one surprise to welcome them with in October….

In tandem, the 2023 intake continue onto their second year of teaching. Those from the double 2022 cohorts move towards their accreditation. Given the huge demand for CAT and its expansion through NHSE funding, we’re always open to approaches for involvement whether for course roles, supervision, seminar group facilitators or markers. So please do get in touch if you have interest in any of these roles and some time to offer.

If you’re ready to take another step in qualifying as a CAT supervisor, another two-day CAT supervisor training course on 17th and 18th October still has spaces. It’s a non-residential, northern alternative to the ACAT-run residential course in Evesham, Worcestershire.

In terms of other CPD, Rachel Beckford and Lesley Taylor’s day on Effective and Respectful CAT With Those Who Are Neurodivergent on 16th October has proved really popular. So much so, it’s already fully booked. The first offer of 2025, on 31st January, is an online version of David Harvey’s popular CAT as a Tool for Leadership. This was very well received over four previous open runs in addition to some bespoke internal events arranged for NHS Trusts. More details and booking options will appear on the website soon. However if you’re interested in securing a place do let us know and we can begin a list for early alert. We have at least couple more clinically-orientated days in the pipeline for 2025. As soon as we have confirmed details we’ll post them here on the site.

As ever, we’ll continue to send out regular email updates to our contact list. If you’re not already on this and would like to be, please let us know.

Here’s to a good autumn ahead for all.

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When and where are we and others on the map during CAT consultancy?

It’s less than a month now until Katie Ackroyd and Steve Kellett roll back into Manchester with their bespoke five-session CAT tools and experience. They are offering a follow-on day on Friday 6th September for CAT therapists using cognitive analytic consultancy in their settings and seeking space to update themselves on more recent developments in delivering this type of work.

As we know, as CAT therapists we ourselves are always ‘on the map’. This day will have a particular focus on how we may inadvertently bring our own unhelpful patterns to bear on consultancy work, and ways we can maintain awareness and responsiveness in managing this. Additionally the presenters will give space and practice opportunities for skills in managing complex presentations, both evident in individuals’ histories, and mirrored through care dyads and the complexities of stretched teams and systems. Steve and Katie have said:

We are providing a day in which people already familiar with this approach can be introduced to some new tools we developed to assist delivery. The day also serves as an introduction to those who are more planning to dip their toes in.  Feedback from previous days is that the approach of the day enables people to leave feeling that they’ve reflected and feel motivated.

They originally developed this day for an NHS Trust with a large CAT network, as a bespoke Catalyse CPD event. The CAT lead shared the following feedback:

This was a really helpful day – with space to reflect on what we bring to the dance when doing consultancy/5 session CAT work, discussion of the challenges faced (with opportunities to reflect on applications to our different service settings) and a chance for an update on key aspects of the model and techniques to manage dissociation and flashbacks. Both staff who have been doing this work for years and staff who are new to CAT consultancy reported finding the day helpful. Katie and Steve were generous in sharing new tools/questionnaires to aid the work. Many thanks.

So if you are interested in benefitting from this learning opportunity, there are still some spaces left for the September 6th event. You can book through this link – Cognitive Analytic Consultancy (CAC) ~ Mapping the Dynamics of Care .

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Introduce Yourself to CAT

Are you looking to learn the basics about Cognitive Analytic Therapy? Perhaps you’re tempted to explore the model to find out whether CAT and you are a good ‘fit’ for your practice going forward. Maybe you’ve already had exposure to CAT through supervision or team-based work. You may want some extra focussed practice opportunities and theoretical scaffolding to build on what you already know. Or perhaps you’ve decided that training as a CAT Practitioner is your next step, but you haven’t yet attended a two-day introduction.

Whatever your motivation, you’re welcome to attend our next two-day introductory workshop. This takes place face-to-face in Manchester on 3rd and 4th July 2024. The workshop will be led by one of our experienced trainers, Sarah Littlejohn. Through a combination of brief theoretical presentations, video material and experiential exercises, Sarah will guide you through the model, its applications, its tools and techniques. You’ll have an opportunity to become familiar with key CAT concepts such as reciprocal roles, procedures and enactments. You can practise mapping and writing in small groups or pairs.

These days also provide a chance to view scenarios from the CAT Training Films (series 1). Catalyse developed this series of films, depicting the process of a fictional therapy. The story of ‘Paul and Lisa’ is embedded throughout our Practitioner Training course.

We hope that this introduction to CAT helps you move forward in your practice. Past participants have rated previous runs very positively. You can read some of the comments and feedback on the event page, and decide whether you want to introduce yourself to CAT, while Sarah introduces CAT to you, in July.

Find out more and book a place by clicking on this link: An Introduction to CAT